The key facts

  • Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in Pampas de Pimentel near Chiclayo, where he was bishop from 2014 to 2023
  • Estimates of attendance differ: the Peruvian agency Andina put it at about 500,000, the Vatican at about 1.5 million
  • The visit is part of a 12-day tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru that ends on November 17

Return to His Former Diocese

Pope Leo XIV on Friday celebrated an open-air Mass in Pampas de Pimentel, in a desert area near the northern Peruvian city of Chiclayo, where he led the diocese from 2014 to 2023 before being called to Rome and later elected pontiff in May 2025. Estimates of attendance differ: the Peruvian state agency Andina spoke of roughly 500,000 people at the Mass and another million or so along the motorcade route, while the Vatican estimated the crowd at about 1.5 million faithful who endured heat of around 31 degrees.

'Padre Roberto' at Home

Leo XIV, born in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost, spent about 20 years in northern Peru as a missionary and bishop; locals still call him 'Padre Roberto'. In addition to US and Vatican citizenship, he holds a Peruvian passport. His years of service coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, severe floods and an influx of Venezuelan migrants; he also served as chancellor of the Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Catholic University. After his election he called Chiclayo a diocese 'close to his heart' and expressed a desire to return. In his homily he thanked the faithful for their support and prayers, including 'for my health during this time of trial, which with God's help I am overcoming' — the pontiff arrived on the tour shortly after surgery for lung cancer in Rome.

Visit Itinerary and Scale of the Tour

On Friday, after the Mass, the pope was scheduled to make a private visit to the Chapel of San Oscar A. Romero in the La Victoria district, meet with bishops, priests, seminarians and pastoral workers at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Peace, speak at the Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Catholic University, named after the 16th-century Spanish missionary and first Archbishop of Lima, and have dinner with the diocese's priests. On Saturday, visits to Santa Cruz de Suchabamba and Saña are planned. According to the Vatican, over the course of the 12-day tour, which began on November 6 and includes Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, about 12 million people have attended the pontiff's events; the largest was the gathering in Lima on Wednesday — about 3.5 million. The tour ends on November 17.