Pope Leo Draws Massive Crowd for Open-Air Mass in Peruvian City Where He Served as Bishop

A large crowd gathered early Friday outside Chiclayo, Peru, for the central event of Pope Leo’s 12-day South America tour: an open-air Mass in the city where he served as bishop for eight years. People traveled by vehicle and on foot to an arid field just outside Chiclayo, about 10,700 kilometers from Rome, to see the former Robert Prevost, who is still affectionately called “Padre” or “Amigo” by locals.

Traffic congestion forced many to walk part of the way to Pampas de Pimentel, a vast desert park west of the city where the Mass is being held. Among the pilgrims was Karina Chinglay, 40, who walked with her mother and two children, all wearing matching Pope Leo shirts. “We knew it was going to be quite a large turnout, but we didn’t imagine the scale of it,” she said. Along the road, vendors sold hats, mini pope dolls, and sweet Peruvian bread.

The pope, originally from Chicago, is visiting Peru on the emotional final leg of a three-nation tour. In just over a week in South America, Leo has drawn an estimated 10 million people to public events. On Wednesday, he declared that the country where he served as a missionary for about 20 years was his homeland.

Leo was due to arrive in Chiclayo from Lima around 9 a.m. (1400 GMT) and will stay in the area until Sunday to lead eight events, including a private dinner with the priests who once reported to him as bishop. Chiclayo, Peru’s fourth-largest city, has a population of about 620,000 and an economy supported by agriculture.