Chiclayo, Peru
CNN
–
Chiclayo’s main plaza was loud with hammers and music, and people were milling with predictions as the vast digital screen footprints rose in front of the city’s cathedral. The outdoor mass on Saturday is very special. This celebration marks the predominance of Pope Leo XIV, the world’s first American Pope, but is known here as the world’s first Robert. Chikrayano pope.
A line of women formed in front of confessions in preparation for a big night through the open door of the cathedral. A child’s chorus played on the stairs, competing against the fierce bass of worldly life on the streets. There, two men in shorts led the dance class. The banner draped into the square showed Leo’s smiling face, 10 feet tall. Signs outside the local restaurant promoted goat stew as his favorite lunch order when he lived here.
Inside the cathedral, 52-year-old Amalia Kurzado quietly sobbed at her legs, her arms extended.
“It’s a miracle day. Chiclayo is very blessed,” she said. After praying, she went home and attended an evening mass to pick up the rest of the family. Her older father, suffering from cancer, desperately needed miracles for his health.
Pope Leo was born in the United States as Robert Prevast, but for his adopted Peru – he won citizenship in 2015 – he ChikrayanoAfter working as a priest in the countryside, he is the son of a bustling city in northern Peru, where he served as bishop for many years.
Here, everyone is talking about him.
Back in the 1980s, Nicanor Palacios was an altar boy with Leo during the early priesthood of nearby Piura, travelling the area with him for service. “A junior priest, he was often sent out into the field,” recalls Palacios, now an Air Force engineer. “He took us to the parish jeep for lunch.”
“It wasn’t difficult for him to fit in. At the time there was a small village called Kilometer 50 on the Pan-American highway. He took us to dry meat and fried plantains.
“What I liked most was his advice, because many young people were lost even back then, but he was 24 or 25 years old and very serious and full of advice,” he died when he was young and Leo and the other altar boys became their second family.
pope! Amigo! The Peruvians remember the young American priest who became Pope (David von Bloan/CNN)
A few years later, as Bishop of Chiclayo, Leo’s accent was still “very American.”
“The way he treats people, his presence enveloped you in a sense of trust. He had a Latin American heart,” Lizana said.
Find the truth, look for God
Chiclayo is a city known for its faithful enthusiasm, even in deep Catholic Peru. According to the 2017 census, Peru’s population is 90% Christians and 76% Catholic, much more than Italy, and far more than Leo’s native US, with less than 20% Catholics.
Leo is widely considered a successor to Pope Francis’ progressive Pope and ideology, coordinating local NGOs, churches and religious groups in the late 2010s to support political turmoil and economic collapse in his hometown.
However, he was not without criticism about his tenure. Three women who were abused by local priests accused Leo of not fully investigating their claims last September while he was a bishop. The new Pope has also been sought by Catholics for choices to change his views on abortion. The X account, under the name Prevost, previously shared articles critical of reproductive rights and “gender ideology.”
Liz Medrano of the local Moshikas Disversas LGBTQI+ Advocacy Group told CNN he fears that Leo’s appointment could fuel the country’s religious conservatism.
“We are very concerned. As you may know, there are many feelings in the state and region about the appointment of the Pope from Chiclayo. Ultra-conservatism, fundamentalism, new movements can emerge from evangelical and Catholic roots,” she said.
“More than anything, it is the church that maintains this idea of opposition to abortion, that abortion is a sin and that it is murder. And this continues to be mentioned and repeated by the authorities in Peru.”
Abortion access is significantly limited in Peru. In 2023, the United Nations accused the Peruvian government of violating the rights of a 13-year-old girl who was denied abortion after years of rape by her father and subsequently jailed by local governments after industry.
Yet, for the Pope, Leo’s social progressivism in other fields is generally seen as a “good direction” by some rights advocates.
“We don’t expect the Pope to suddenly go out and defend women’s rights, but perhaps he’s a little more human and will take a position where there is less criticism of women who have stopped their pregnancy,” said Rossina Vazquez, director of the Women’s Rights Group in Peru.
The interest in seeking truth and justice is part of the worldview of Augustine’s priests like Leo, according to Friar Pipé, a teacher at a school run by Augustine on the outskirts of Chiclayo.
“For our Augustines, God is true, and what we are looking for the truth is that we are looking for God,” Pipet said. “What I hope is that Leo can become a pope who is a sign of unity in the church. We can always do better through dialogue and understanding, both within the church and other religions,” he added.
Pipe, 30, was personally dictated by Leo in 2023 and celebrated him with tradition. The blessing of him making a joke now may have played some role in Leo’s chances during the Vatican Conclave last week to choose a new Pope.
He remembers watching the broadcast of the process on YouTube unfolding in Rome, when Leo’s name was called out, where his fellow Augustines were erupting with wows of joy and victory.
in Chikrayano Pope, anything is possible now, Pipet joked.
“Let’s take a look,” he laughed. “When Benedict was Pope, Germany won the World Cup. After that, Francis was Pope, and Argentina won. Now Robert is planning to win the World Cup either Peru or America.”
But for followers like Amalia Kurzado who have little to do with faith, the sense that this is a particularly blessed time for Chiclayo is not a laughing matter.
In her modest neighborhood where Cruzado says the kids are hungry or can’t buy shoes, dust rose as a taxi hits a dirt street on a Saturday night, with the rear window decals saying “Lavendithión de Dios.”
It was finally time for the evening mass.
Her eight-something family was successfully stacked in fresh clothes, from her nine-month-old grandson to her 79-year-old father. Streetlights flash when they arrive, and the police still cover the cathedral stairs for the evening ritual.
Kurzad rolled his grandson into one arm, shepherd his father in front of him, and past crowds took selfies in front of the illuminated portrait of the Pope. The prayer begins soon, followed by a familiar order. Readings from the Bible, the new bishop of Chiclajo, Holy by Communion.
“Daddy! Amigo! Elpu Ebro Esta Contigo!” The congregation chanted in the crowd, blew the air horns away, lifting the kids up in the air as if it were a home team game. “Pope! Friends! People are with you!
“The Pope has two hearts: one for the place where he was born, and the other here, for us, the humble people of Chiclayo,” Kurzad said. “He is our Pope.”
