Pope Leo XIV: What did the new pontiff do in Peru and why did he send a message to the community in Chiclayo?

The newly elected pope, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost , is an American by birth with Peruvian nationality. At 69, he assumed the office of St. Peter under the name Leo XIV and became the first American elected to lead the Catholic Church.

It must be said that his history and career are deeply marked by the work he carried out as a missionary in Peru.

He became archbishop of Chiclayo and carried out pastoral work characterized by his closeness to vulnerable communities. This earned him the respect of his faithful and the affection of the Peruvian people during his time serving the Peruvian Church.

Since 2023, his work in the Vatican as Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops has demonstrated his pastoral, multicultural, and commitment to those who suffer.

The story of the new pope and the South American country begins in 1985, the year in which, after arriving in the country, he joined the Augustinian mission when he assumed the position of chancellor in the Territorial Prelature of Chulucanas, a territory located in the north of the Inca country. There, he worked for a year with the local communities.

After a brief stay in Chicago, his hometown, Prevost returned to Peru and lived there for a decade.

He directed the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo , while also teaching canon law at a diocesan seminary and holding other positions of various kinds. During that time, his command of Spanish developed to what we know today.

In 1999, he returned to Chicago to continue his formation and journey within the Augustinian order there. After years of leadership, he was elected prior general, the highest position in the congregation. He served two terms in that position, until 2013.

2014 marked Prevost's return to Peruvian soil. This time, he was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, a position entrusted to him by Pope Francis himself. According to RPP, he was granted Peruvian citizenship after that.

He then held important positions within the Peruvian Episcopal Conference until January 2023, when Pope Francis himself appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.

In 2020, he served as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of El Callao, where he faced the pandemic and encouraged the Catholic faithful to maintain their faith despite the difficult times they were experiencing.

In September 2023, he was ordained a cardinal. His appointment to this position consolidated his high-ranking ecclesiastical position in the eyes of the Pope. He remained in that position until Francis's death, demonstrating the Latin American pope's complete confidence in him.

From the time he was named cardinal until his election as pope, one year and six months passed.

In his first speech as the newly elected pope, Leo XIV took the opportunity to send a heartfelt message and a special greeting to Chiclayo, the city in Peru where he lived for more than 8 years serving the Church.

"If you will allow me a word, a greeting to all those, especially to my beloved diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, shared their faith, and given so much to continue being a faithful church of Jesus Christ," said Francis' successor.

REACTION LATEST NEWS.