Pope Leo XIV welcomed yesterday in the Apostolic Palace a delegation from Chiclayo, the city where he served as bishop for nine years. Included in the delegation was Mr. Jose Pérez Flores, regional governor of Lambayeque, the province where Chiclayo is located. Pérez Flores extended an invitation to the Holy Father to visit Chiclayo.
Pope Francis often spoke of his dream of a missionary Church that goes out to the peripheries or margins of society. This desire now takes a tremendous leap forward with the election of Pope Leo XIV. The new Pope has spent most of his priesthood as a missionary and understands the centrality of mission in the Christian faith. Also, he was taken to Rome in 2023 by Pope Francis from the peripheries of the world, Chiclayo in Northern Peru. Now, the bishop of Chiclayo has become the successor of Saint Peter. As I have told many people, Chiclayo is not the first place one considers in Peru when planning a vacation – unless you visit the beaches along the coast of Lambayeque which are among the most beautiful in the world, or the archeological site of the Señor de Sipán.
Pope Leo addressed the delegation with these words:
“You know well that Peru is very present in my life, in my heart, and it always will be. Your presence at the Mass yesterday is very important and very beautiful. This testimony speaks strongly to the world, providing faith in unity, community, friendship, what it means in the life of each one of us, in what Peru can offer the world. This is beautiful and thank you; thank you Peru for this solidarity, for accompanying me these days with so many expressions of affection and love.”
After an undecipherable voice addressed him from the crowd, the Pope recalled his words when he first emerged before Saint Peter Square. “Chiclayo appeared in my first speech to the world! Long live Chiclayo!” A heartfelt applause concluded the audience.
A collaborative New York Times article recently reported that while Prevost was the Superior of the Augustinian Order, he had several encounters with Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires. When he became Pope Francis, Prevost confided to a friend, “thank God, I’m never going to become a bishop. I’m not going to tell you the reason, but let’s just say that not all of my encounters with Cardinal Bergoglio ended in agreement.”
With Pope Leo, the dream of Pope Francis continues to unfold. A missionary Church that has the billions of the peripheries in the heart.
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