Peru Celebrates Pope Leo XIV and Claims Him as Their Own

They remembered him in rubber boots, in a devastating flood, working side by side with the Red Cross. They shared images of him on a horse, in the countryside, wearing stylish aviator shades and crooning Christmas ballads — “Feliz Navidad!” — grinning and clapping alongside a rousing crowd.

Pope Leo XIV may have been born in Chicago, but the people of Chiclayo, a city in northern Peru where he served as bishop from 2015 to 2023, have claimed him as one of their own.

“Welcome to Chiclayo, the land of the pope!” a flight attendant announced as a plane from Lima touched down on Thursday. Passengers burst into applause.

Pope Leo XIV spent much of his career outside the United States, arriving in northern Peru in 1985 at a time when internal conflict terrorized much of the countryside, killing many Peruvians and making the country an uncommon destination for foreigners.

He stayed, except for a brief stint in Illinois, until roughly 1999, according to an official biography. And then he returned again in 2014, becoming bishop of Chiclayo in 2015.

To be bishop, he was required by a diplomatic treaty between Peru and the Vatican to become a citizen of Peru — which he did.

The coastal city of Chiclayo, with a metropolitan population of about 800,000 people, is known in Peru for its good cooking — fresh ceviche, stewed goat and squash, duck and cilantro-infused rice. And in interviews with Peruvian news media, the pope — previously known as Robert Francis Prevost or simply “Monseñor Roberto” — has expressed a strong affinity for the region’s specialties.

The diocese of Chiclayo also encompasses highland and coastal regions far from the city and for decades before him, it was led by conservative bishops.

On Thursday, when the pope made his first public address from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, there was one community he mentioned by name: his “dear Chiclayo.”

While many missionaries return to their country of origin after serving, the pope considered staying in Peru the rest of his life, said Elías Neyra, a friar and a coordinator for the Augustinian order in Latin America.

“He had told many of us that he did plan to live out his days here in Peru,” he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Peru celebrated his dual identity on social media: “From Chicago to Chiclayo.”

At sundown on Thursday in Chiclayo, the conversation was all about the “Peruvian pope.” In the cathedral in the main square, a crowd had gathered, singing hallelujah.

Outside, people had printed giant posters of Pope Leo and shouted “long live the pope!”

In a restaurant, a freestyle rapper who was performing for tips worked references to the new “chiclayano” pope into his lyrics.

Mariana Quiróz, 39, carried a framed picture of the pope blessing her baby cousin in 2015. Ms. Quiróz said she worked beside him in 2017, in parts of the region hard-hit by floods, and remembered him wading through the high waters to help out.

“He wasn’t a man of the desk but a man who worked with the people,” she said.

“People were suffering so much. Many were left homeless. And the father was there.”

The Rev. Elmer Uchofen, a priest in Chiclayo, recalled traveling long hours by car into the highlands with the bishop to reach parishioners. “We would talk in the car while I was driving,” Father Uchofen said.

“And he would listen quite a bit. He would arrive and he was very, very warm with the people, especially the people of the Sierra to whom he would offer his help.” He said he would deliver food and other supplies to remote areas, sometimes carrying sacks of rice himself.

“He always had a low profile. Very patient, very smiling,” Father Uchofen said. “He also said things firmly when he saw something that was not right or something that was not in accordance with the things of the Church.”

He said he thought that Pope Leo represented “a continuity” with Pope Francis, who emphasized compassion for the poor, and for migrants, and a need to bring the church to the people.

“It is not a radical change,” said Father Uchofen, “but to reinforce many things.”

In the center of Chiclayo, Juana Loren, 60, a church volunteer and part of a women’s prayer group at the cathedral called Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament, said that the pope — when he was a bishop — had confirmed her daughter.

She showed off photographs of her and the other women in her group with Leo, as well as a letter that he wrote to them in September to commemorate the group’s 23rd anniversary.

“He had a lot of holiness. We always saw it,” she said. “We used to joke and say: He is either going to become a saint or a pope.”

Elda Cantú contributed reporting from Mexico City.