On Saturday morning, Nov. 14, Pope Leo placed a gold crown on the statue of Our Lady in the cathedral of Chiclayo, and explained what she meant to him personally during his eight years as bishop here.
Gerard O’Connell
Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo at Catholic university in Peru: ‘Science without a conscience ruins everyone’s life’
“Scientific progress…must not be confused with a privilege reserved for millionaires seeking immortality, while entire peoples suffer from poverty and oppression,” Leo said.
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Pope Leo’s joyous return home to Chiclayo
“What a joy it is to return to Chiclayo! It is a blessing for me to be with you once again,” a beaming Pope Leo told the one million Peruvians who attended Mass today with their former bishop.
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The archbishop of Cuzco on Pope Leo’s visit: ‘He was a brother, a friend and a guide.’
“The pope is coming home, among his own people, and I imagine his heart is full of joy, too,” says Lizardo Estrada Herrera, the new Augustinian archbishop of Cusco.
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Pope Leo meets with Peru’s bishops as festive homecoming continues in Lima
Pope Leo is enjoying every moment; he appears energized by the crowds. In every speech, he says how happy he is to be back home.
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Peru’s Cardinal Barreto: Pope Francis was a bulldozer. Now Leo paves that road for all believers.
“[Pope Leo] does not abandon the principles of the church’s renewal. On the contrary, he reaffirms the synodal spirituality of communion, participation and mission.”
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‘I am returning to my homeland’: Pope Leo’s emotional Peruvian homecoming begins
“I am very pleased to be back in Peru,” Pope Leo told an audience composed of Peru’s civil and religious authorities upon his arrival in Lima.
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‘He is so excited’: What to expect from Pope Leo’s Peruvian homecoming
Pope Leo has dreamed of making this visit since his election on May 8, 2025.
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Pope Leo celebrates Mass for more than two million at Argentine shrine of Our Lady of Luján
“Argentina, rise up and walk!” Pope Leo XIV spoke these words as he concluded his visit to Argentina with a Mass for two million people at the famous national shrine of Our Lady of Luján.
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Pope Leo lifts up Argentina’s many saints at Mass in Córdoba
Pope Leo told the 650,000 people at the Mass he concelebrated that “we are called to holiness” and that “this calling is always missionary.”