Pope Leo welcomed by millions in his second ‘homeland’ of Peru

Pope Leo XIV has been welcomed by a few million people upon his arrival in Peru, his adopted homeland, for the final leg of a three-nation Latin American tour, just weeks after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.

People waving flags and wearing pope-themed shirts filled the main plaza in Lima and erupted into loud cheers as a big screen showed the plane touching down on Wednesday local time. Some held signs that read, “Welcome home”.

A Vatican statement said three million people greeted the pontiff in Lima, setting another record for the biggest crowd of his papacy after an estimated 2.5 million people attended an outdoor Mass in Buenos Aires earlier this week.

The 71-year-old travelled to Uruguay and Argentina before heading to Peru.

The pope was born in Chicago, the United States, but served in Peru as a missionary priest and bishop for two decades and obtained citizenship there, before being tapped to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

The pontiff said his return to Peru held “a very special meaning”.

“Today, I understand how much of this land remains with me and how much of my own story also belongs to you,” he said at Lima’s Gran Teatro Nacional. “I can tell you, with deep gratitude, that I am returning to my homeland.”

Peru prepared for the homecoming by erecting a 14-metre (46ft) statue of Pope Leo with outstretched arms, towering over a seaside park in Callao. Merchants in Lima were selling pope-themed shirts and souvenirs.

The pontiff is scheduled to spend three days in the northern city of Chiclayo, where he was bishop from 2015 to 2023.

In a closely watched speech to President Keiko Fujimori, whose father Alberto Fujimori led Peru through the turbulent 1990s and a brutal war against Maoist Shining Path rebels, Pope Leo urged the president to build confidence among her people after her narrow election victory earlier this year.

He invited Fujimori to confront the wounds of the country’s turbulent past, alluding to her father’s contested legacy. “Past events deserve to be treated with justice and sensitivity, leaving room for harmony to grow ‌and for differences ⁠to be addressed with respect,” he said.

The pontiff also called on Peruvians to cultivate “honesty, integrity, and a willingness to engage with others”, saying those qualities were essential to sustaining trust and democratic institutions.

In welcoming the pope, Fujimori said his visit was an invitation for Peru to pursue its “unfinished task” of national reconciliation.

When Alberto Fujimori was pardoned in 2017, Leo – then Bishop Robert Prevost – criticised the move, saying the former president should personally seek forgiveness from victims if Peru were to achieve genuine reconciliation.

Pope Leo began the trip less than a month after lung cancer surgery and has appeared in good form, making long speeches in a firm, clear voice.