CHICLAYO, Peru — As the plane touched down in northern Peru, in the adopted home city of the first U.S.-born pope, a local TV station proudly announced: “Pope Leo XIV returns to his land.”
More than 1 million people lined the streets of Chiclayo, Peru, with 500,000 more gathered for a sprawling Friday Mass, according to Vatican estimates, nearly doubling the city’s population for the pope’s emotional homecoming.
“The pope is Chiclayan!” the crowd chanted. “Chiclayo is with you!”
Some in the crowd had been waiting nearly 24 hours for the papal Mass, standing or sitting on the sandy, rock-strewn flat in the scorching sun. Firefighters drove through the vast area spraying the faithful with water.
Yuri Romero, 58, had arrived at 3 p.m. the previous day with her 88-year-old mother. Romero did not sleep, and her arthritic knees ached. But tears filled her eyes as she spoke of her first, and perhaps only, chance to see a pope — a former local bishop who “made you feel like you knew him for a while,” she said.
As the pope passed by and waved at the crowd, a woman holding a Chiclayo flag began to sob. Another held up a bandanna with an image of his home cathedral.
Lenner Mercado, a 39-year-old from Trujillo, and his family drove five hours and walked for three more for the “opportunity to see the Peruvian pope.”
“He was born in the U.S.,” he said, “but his heart is in Peru.”
The post More than 1.5 million people welcome Pope Leo XIV in northern Peru appeared first on Washington Post.
