Pope Leo XIV condemns Amazon exploitation in Peru and demands justice for slain Indigenous leaders

Mass in the Andes before the jungle stop

On Sunday, 15 November, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass at Saqsaywaman, the old Inca site above Cusco, before boarding an Airbus A320 bound for Pucallpa in eastern Peru. The Vatican, citing local authorities, put the crowd at about 100,000, and hundreds of thousands more people filled the streets. The 71-year-old pontiff had undergone surgery at Rome's Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic on 13 October, so doubts had been raised about whether the thin Andean air would strain him. Reports say he completed the Mass without visible health problems. ANSA called Cusco the most demanding stage of the whole trip.

A warning in the Amazon

In Pucallpa, a city close to sea level about 200 kilometres from the Brazilian border, the pope addressed Indigenous representatives and missionaries wearing traditional dress. He condemned indiscriminate deforestation, illegal mining, oil spills and the pollution of rivers, and warned that a market logic was putting the balance of creation at risk. He told the gathering that the Church stood at their side. He described the damage as the consequence of irresponsible exploitation of natural resources rather than isolated accidents, and he told Indigenous leaders:

“You know well the damage caused by indiscriminate deforestation and the pollution of rivers and other waters through illegal mining and oil spills.”

He also urged Catholics to oppose deforestation and pollution with perseverance, linking the pressure on forests to gold and oil production.

Killings of defenders and sexual violence

The pope asked for the killings of Indigenous leaders to be cleared up, saying many had been murdered for defending their territories. According to a report from an organization cited by Deutsche Welle, 35 Indigenous leaders were killed in Peru over the past 15 years, more than two-thirds of them in this decade. POLITICO reported that in August a court sentenced four people to up to 35 years in prison over the 2023 murder of Kichwa leader Quinto Inuma Alvarado in the San Martin region. The same report said the Awajun and Wampis Women's Council recorded 370 cases of sexual violence in Condorcanqui province between January and July. The pope denounced complicity, impunity and corruption surrounding attacks on Awajun and Wampis schoolgirls in that province.

Deforestation and the pope's ties to Peru

Global Nature Watch data cited by Deutsche Welle show Peru lost about 200,000 hectares of native forest in 2025 alone. Leo was born in the United States, but he spent about 20 years in Peru as a missionary and bishop and holds Peruvian citizenship, which gave the trip particular weight for Peruvian Catholics. ANSA described the Amazon speech as carrying forward the ecological legacy of Pope Francis, anchored in the 2015 encyclical Laudato si'. Il Fatto Quotidiano reported that in Chiclayo the pope also criticised billionaires who seek immortality while peoples suffer.

Final stops

The 12-day tour of South America began with Uruguay and Argentina, where the pope described the region's human and natural wealth. It ends in Lima on Monday, 16 November, before the return flight to Rome, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano.