Pope Leo XIV arrives in Peru for the final stop of his South America tour

Arrival in Lima

Pope Leo XIV landed in Callao, the port province adjoining Lima, at 17:00 local time on Wednesday, 11 November, after a flight from Buenos Aires. President Keiko Fujimori and Foreign Minister Carlos Espá met him at the foot of the aircraft stairs, and a children's choir sang as he walked a red carpet. Before leaving the carpet, the pope greeted a group of orphaned children who live in state shelters. He had earlier visited Uruguay and Argentina, where more than 2.5 million pilgrims gathered for a Mass in Buenos Aires, and Peru is the longest stage of the 12-day trip, scheduled for six days. Robert Prevost spent more than two decades in Peru as a missionary, priest and bishop, and became a citizen in 2015. He is the first pope from the United States and the first from Peru.

Zuly Castillo, who was his secretary when he was bishop of Chiclayo, described her reaction ahead of the visit.

“My heart is so excited that it makes me want to cry with joy.”

Crowds and celebrations

Local authorities estimated about 3 million people lined the roughly 13 kilometre road from the airport, many holding up cellphones as the motorcade passed under gray skies. Preparations included a 46-foot (14-meter) statue of the pope unveiled in El Callao, cappuccinos decorated with his image in Lima, and murals, T-shirts and bobblehead dolls in Chiclayo. Outside the presidential palace, hundreds gathered near a stage with giant screens under tight security. Gustavo Morello, an associate professor of sociology at Boston College, saw the visit as a return to the pope's roots.

“This is a return to his origins without any doubt.”

Buenos Aires Mass (over 2.5 million)2,500,000

Lima motorcade (local authorities)3,000,000

Chiclayo Mass, expected (over 1 million)1,000,000

Buenos Aires Mass (over 2.5 million)

2500000 people

Lima motorcade (local authorities)

3000000 people

Chiclayo Mass, expected (over 1 million)

1000000 people

Data from the article text

Speech and Peru's divisions

At the Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima on Wednesday evening, the pope addressed the president, civic leaders and diplomats and called Peru his 'homeland'. He urged dialogue, honesty and integrity, and asked the political leadership to face the painful chapters of the past with justice and sensitivity, acknowledging deep divisions in Peruvian society. The New York Times noted that Fujimori's father had pursued policies the pope once protested. Peru has 34 million people, and 25.7% of its population lived in monetary poverty in 2025, according to AP. Morello said a small elite has GDP levels comparable to some US states, while most Peruvians live in structural poverty and economic insecurity. The country also faces El Niño, violent crime and income inequality. The trip comes less than a month after surgeons removed a lobe of the pope's right lung, and stern.de reported that he kept the South America plans after a surgery in mid-October.

Programme until Monday

On Friday, 13 November, the pope is due to celebrate an open-air Mass near Chiclayo, where he served as bishop for eight years, and more than 1 million people are expected. On Sunday, 15 November, he will lead an Angelus prayer outside the cathedral in Cusco, a city at about 3,400 metres in the Andes. The itinerary also includes Pucallpa and the sanctuary of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo in Zaña, a center of Afro-Peruvian culture where he often prayed. In Lima, he will give a speech from the square in front of the cathedral on the challenges and hopes for the future of the Peruvian people. The pope is scheduled to remain in Peru until Monday, 16 November.

Religious landscape

Catholicism remains the dominant religious force in Peru and the region, but evangelical churches have made large gains. Congregants told the New York Times that these churches offer a more direct relationship with God and a more expressive, modern style of worship. The pope returns at a time when the Church faces growing secularization and competition from other Christian denominations. A 21-year-old former Catholic who now attends a Pentecostal church in Lima said that there, people are taught how to know God.