Pope Leo to visit Peru, where he served as bishop, as part of first Latin American trip as pontiff

CNN

By Christopher Lamb, CNN

(CNN) — Pope Leo XIV will make a return visit to Peru in November, a country where he served as a missionary and bishop for nearly two decades.

The Vatican announced on Wednesday that Pope Leo will make a lengthy visit to Latin America from November 6 to 17 and will be in Peru from November 11 until the end of his trip.

Leo XIV will begin his visit in Uruguay from November 6 to 8 before going to Argentina from November 8 to 11, making a trip to the homeland of his predecessor, Pope Francis.

A papal visit to Peru is likely to generate high levels of enthusiasm in a country where many see the pope as one of their own.

Peru’s Episcopal Conference President Carlos García Camader invited Peruvians to “prepare themselves spiritually” to receive the pope, saying they received the news of his visit “with immense joy.”

The announcement was also welcomed by those who knew him during his time in Chiclayo, in the northwest of the country, where he served as bishop from 2015 to 2023.

“We feel very happy, very joyful,” said Jimmy Horna, the head of security for the local diocese who worked with Robert Prevost (Pope Leo’s given name) between 2019 and 2023 when he traveled to the Vatican.

“Imagine having him back here in his home. We want the days to pass quickly so he can be here with us again, so we can greet him and give him a fraternal hug, since he is our great Catholic leader,” he told CNN.

As a young Augustinian friar, the future pope first went to Peru in 1985 as a missionary spending what were formative years in Chulucanas and Trujillo where he was involved in social action and taught future priests.

His time there also exposed him to the ideas of liberation theology, a Christian approach, originating in Peru, that prioritizes the church’s concern for people who are poor and marginalized.

The first US-born pope later left the country, and then, after 12 years based in Rome leading his religious order – the Augustinians – he returned to Peru to lead the diocese of Chiclayo.

The itinerary of his November visit to Peru will see him travel to his former diocese of Chiclayo, along with visits to the capital Lima and Cusco and Pucallpa.

The pope retains close links with Peru and remains a Peruvian citizen. While a bishop in the country, he was known as a hands-on pastoral leader, who was chosen as vice-president of the Peruvian bishops’ conference and tried to tackle the scourge of sexual abuse in the church.

Leo XIV’s visit to Argentina is significant given that his predecessor, Pope Francis, did not manage a trip back home during his 13-year pontificate. Pope Leo’s trip to the country will mark the first papal visit to Argentina in almost 40 years. While in Argentina he will go to Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Luján and in Uruguay he’ll visit Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida.

The Argentine Episcopal Conference welcomed the news, saying, “All of Argentina opens its heart and doors to the successor of Peter.”

During his trip, the pope will meet with President Javier Milei as it is an official visit, government spokesman Adrián Ravier said.

In Uruguay, he is scheduled to meet with President Yamandú Orsi, according to Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin.

The pope’s years in Latin America will help him navigate the complex political landscape of the countries he is visiting. In Peru, Keiko Fujimori was recently sworn in as the country’s first female president. She is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who served from 1990 to 2000.

His government pulled the country back from economic collapse and used lethal force to defeat the Shining Path guerilla group during an internal conflict in the country that, according to a truth and reconciliation commission, left more than 60,000 dead. He was convicted of human rights abuses but later received a controversial pardon in 2017.

The pope lived in Peru during the Fujimori era and, as bishop of Chiclayo, questioned the decision to offer the pardon criticizing the president’s apology as too generic, and that he should personally apologize for what had happened.

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CNN’s Sol Amaya, Jimena De La Quintana and Darío Klein contributed to this report.