Pope Leo XIV Arrives in Lima for Final Stop of Latin America Tour
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Lima on Wednesday, in the country where he lived as a missionary before his pontificate. The visit is the final leg of a three-part tour of Latin America.
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Lima on Wednesday, completing his return to a country he regards as his second home. Peru was the place of his work as a missionary for about two decades before he was elected head of the Catholic Church. The visit marks the conclusion of a three-part journey through Latin America lasting twelve days in total, with Peru as its final stop.
The 71-year-old pontiff was born in Chicago and is the first pope with Peruvian citizenship. He leads around 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. A few months ago he underwent an operation for lung cancer, which added further attention to the trip. According to local authorities, about three million people lined the routes along which he travelled. It is the largest crowd of his pontificate so far.
On arrival, the pope rode through the crowd in an open popemobile, waving to the faithful. Shortly after his arrival he met President Keiko Fujimori, who narrowly won the election this year. She is the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, whose political legacy remains contested in Peru to this day; he has since died. The president described national reconciliation as the country's "unfinished task."
Peru has a violent past. During the internal armed conflict there was violence by guerrilla groups, human rights abuses by state forces, and deep social polarization. Against this background, the pope urged the president to build public trust. What concrete political results the reconciliation process will bring is currently open.
The visit comes at a time when Peru is struggling with poverty, crime and lasting political instability. A central event of the stay is the pope's speech at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima. With it, Leo XIV continues in Peru the stage of his journey that takes him to the country he got to know as a missionary and now revisits as pope.
Source: france24.com
15
