'God loves Peru': Country celebrates new Pope as one of their own

Halfway through Leo XIV's first speech as pope, which he delivered in Italian, he stopped and asked if he might say a few words in Spanish.

Smiling, he continued: "A greeting to all and in particular to my dear Diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru."

The first American pope is a citizen of Peru and has spent much of his life there, travelling between the two countries for decades until 2014, when Pope Francis appointed him bishop of the Chiclayo Diocese in the country's north.

On Thursday, Peruvians rejoiced at the appointment of one of their own to the highest position in the Catholic Church.

Standing near Lima's cathedral shortly after bells rang out in celebration of the appointment, elementary school teacher Isabel Panez said: "For us Peruvians, it is a source of pride that this is a pope who represents our country."

Prevost would often say that he had "come from Chicago to Chiclayo – the only difference is a few letters," Diana Celis, who attended several Masses officiated by the then Bishop Robert Prevost, told the Associated Press news agency.

He reportedly referred to Peru, where around three quarters of people are Catholic, as "mi segunda patria" – my second homeland.

Peru's president, Dina Voluarte, described Pope Leo as Peruvian "by choice and conviction".

"The pope is Peruvian; God loves Peru," she said.

Born in Chicago in 1955, he is the son of Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martinez, of Spanish descent.

After completing studies in theology in Chicago and in canon law in Rome, the Catholic Church sent him to Peru for the first time.

He arrived at the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas, in the Peruvian department of Piura, in 1985, aged 30, and the following year, joined the mission in Trujillo. For almost three decades, he worked between the US and Peru.

Then, in 2014, Pope Francis appointed Prevost bishop of Chiclayo, a position he assumed the following year, after becoming a Peruvian citizen.

Jose Luis Perez Guadalupe, who was the minister responsible for signing Prevost's naturalisation, told BBC Mundo that he was "a very attentive and very thoughtful man, who listened more than he spoke."

These were his first encounters with a country that would come to shape his life.

Janinna Sesa, who met Prevost while she worked for the church's Caritas nonprofit, told the Associated Press during torrential rains in 2022 he waded through mud to help people in Chiclayo and nearby villages.

He also delivered food and blankets to remote Andean villages, driving a white pickup truck and sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor. There, Sesa said, Prevost ate whatever was offered to him, including the peasant diet consisting of potatoes, cheese and sweet corn.

But, if the opportunity came up, he would enjoy carne asada – one of his favorite dishes – accompanied by a glass of Coca-Cola.

He also had an interest in cars. "He has no problem fixing a broken-down truck until it runs," Sesa said.

Prevost was the driving force for the purchase of two oxygen-production plants during the coronavirus pandemic, which killed more than 217,000 people across Peru.

"He worked so hard to find help, that there was not only enough for one plant, but for two oxygen plants," Sesa said.

Edinson Farfán, the Peruvian Bishop of Chiclayo since 2024, said Pope Leo would continue Pope Francis's legacy of working with the poor and advocating for "a Church with open doors". He was "very close to Pope Francis", he said.

"He was undoubtedly deeply influenced by this particular Church of Chiclayo. Chiclayo is a city that greatly values the simple faith of its people. He has a special affection for the diocese."

"It's his beloved diocese, it's his life. He learned here everything he can share and will share with the entire world."

But not all in the country are proud of his record.

Serious accusations have been made about his handling of sexual abuse cases during his time as Bishop of Chiclayo.

In 2023, three Peruvian women went public with claims that as bishop he failed to investigate their reports of having been abused as teenagers by two priests in Chiclayo, dating back to 2007. They said that when they raised their allegations with the diocese in 2022, no proper inquiry was opened.

Church officials in Chiclayo said that action was taken and the accused priests were put on precautionary suspension, and that the case was referred to the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles serious abuse cases.

The diocese said it was Rome's decision to shelve the case without a full canonical trial and that it conducted a preliminary investigation.

These allegations about his leadership are one of the challenges he will face as he now heads the Church worldwide.

Perez Guadalupe said that while Prevost primarily remained focused on church matters in Peru, he was "very attentive to the reality" of the country.

In 2023, when violent anti-government protests following the ousting of then-president Pedro Castillo left 49 dead, Prevost told Peruvian media he felt "much sorrow and much pain".

That year, Pope Francis called Prevost to Rome to serve as the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world and one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. He was also appointed president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Prevost said that he had asked Pope Francis to allow him to remain in Peru longer.

As he heard Prevost was the new pope, Thomas Nicolini, a Peruvian who studies economics in Rome, went to St Peter's Square.

He told the AP that Chiclayo is, "A beautiful area, but one of the regions that needs lots of hope."

"So, now I'm expecting that the new pope helps as many people as possible, and tries to reignite, let's say, the faith young people have lost."