Pope Leo makes emotional return to his ‘beloved diocese of Chiclayo’

LIMA, Peru — Pope Leo XIV made a triumphant return Friday to the Peruvian city of Chiclayo, where he served as bishop for eight years and was affectionately nicknamed “Padre Roberto.”

As he touched down he was greeted with a big sign saying “#LeonXIVVuelaACasa,” or Pope Leo returns home, before small dance troupe performed before him.

The crowds greeting Leo in Peru’s fourth largest city will likely be smaller than the estimated 3 million or so who welcomed the pope when he arrived Wednesday in Lima, the country’s capital.

But their enthusiasm will likely more than make up for their smaller numbers as the former Bishop Robert Prevost of Chiclayo returned to this coastal city of nearly 700,000 as the leader of the Catholic Church.

Lines ⁠of cars forced many to walk part of the ​way ⁠to Pampas de Pimentel, a vast desert plain just outside Chiclayo. Along the ‌road, vendors sold hats, mini pope dolls and sweet Peruvian bread.

Maria Esther Chozo Reyes, 76, said she had taken a 12-hour bus ride from Lima and arrived Thursday afternoon before she camped overnight. “He knows the people of Chiclayo and he’s lived here, he’s made his mission here,” she told The Associated Press. “We really need his blessing.”

Leo’s sojourn in Chiclayo is midway through the final leg of his 12-day visit to South America, a historic trip that included stops in Argentina and Uruguay. And it’s the most sentimental part of his journey.

For while Leo was born in Chicago and English is his mother tongue, the first words he uttered from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica was a shoutout in Spanish to his “beloved Diocese of Chiclayo.”

During his time in that city, Leo often repeated a joke: “Chicago, Chiclayo, what difference is there? Only one letter.”

Setting aside the fact that it’s actually two letters, Leo quickly became a beloved figure in Chiclayo by championing social justice issues, embracing the poor and venturing into the local prison to say Mass.

During the pandemic, Leo endeared himself to many by launching a fundraising drive to raise money for a badly-needed oxygen production plant.

When Cyclone Maku hit the area in March 2023, Leo was photographed wading through the floodwaters to get supplies to the destitute and distributing food at soup kitchens.

At Christmastime, Leo would drive a pickup truck laden with gifts into remote villages around Chiclayo and join family celebrations.

Last month, Leo’s trip to South America was in jeopardy after the 71-year-old pontiff was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent surgery to remove part of one lung.

But when Leo landed in Lima, he showed no sign of exhaustion as he quickly ambled down the stairs to the tarmac.

Riding in an open-air popemobile, Leo waved enthusiastically at the crowds who lined the highway into the city waving balloons and flags and chanting “Leo! Leo! Leo!”

Leo spent two decades as a missionary, priest and finally as a bishop in Peru and became a citizen in 2015. During his two decades in the country, he was also a strident critic of then- Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori’s authoritarian regime.

On Thursday, Leo delivered a speech while sitting beside Fujimori’s daughter, recently-elected Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori, at Lima’s Gran Teatro Nacional performing arts center.

Leo urged the country’s leaders to cultivate honesty and integrity to strengthen public trust --- and called on officeholders to listen to their constituents.

“Today I understand how much of this land remains with me and how much of my own story also belongs to you,” Leo said.

There was thunderous applause when Leo referred to Peru as “my homeland.”

And Leo appeared to have tears in his eyes as he sang the Peruvian national anthem along with a children’s choir.

Claudio Lavanga reported from Lima and Corky Siemaszko from New York.