Leo XIV returns to Peru as Pope and retakes missionary steps

O detailed itinerary of Leo XIV's first visit to Latin America as Pope was released today.

Scheduled for November 6-17, the journey will represent the return to roots for the Pope born in the United States, but who also has Peruvian nationality and spent two decades in Peru performing the functions of priest and bishop.

As he showed during his visit to four African countries in April, Leo XIV, at the age of 71, does not hesitate to travel long distances and work up to high hours of the night when he is travelling.

In total, it will travel a little more than 31,000 kilometers of flight during this trip — almost twice the 17,000 it traveled when it traveled to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

The visit will begin in Uruguay, allowing the Pope to celebrate an important Catholic feast on November 8, dedicated to the patron saint of the country, Our Lady of the Thirty Three.

The small statue of the Virgin dates back to the 18th century Jesuit missions in the region and is currently in the city of Florida, where Leo XIV will celebrate a Mass at the National Shrine.

His predecessor, the Argentine Pope Francis (2013-2025), the first head of the Catholic Church born on the American continent, never returned to Argentina after he became Pope.

In the second stage of the trip, Leo XIV will pay homage to the patron saint of Argentina, Our Lady of Luján, whose statue, which is in the city of Luján, province of Buenos Aires, was particularly dear to Francisco.

The Argentine Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who died in 2025, surprised both friends and critics by never returning to Argentina after leaving for Rome for the 2013 conclave, which elected him 266th head of the Catholic Church.

He had been a figure who shared opinions in his homeland, both as Jesuit superior and archbishop of Buenos Aires, and apparently wanted to avoid feeding polemics in the country by not granting the ruling party the political benefits of a papal visit at any time.

But Leo XIV seems willing to finally provide the Argentine faithful with a papal visit, the first since those of John Paul II in 1982 and 1987.

In Buenos Aires, Leo will visit the federal prison — perhaps in a gesture of recognition of Francisco’s legacy in prison ministry, a work he began when he was performing the functions of “pattern of the slum” in the Argentine capital.

The highlight of Leo XIV's journey will certainly be the return to Peru and in particular to his diocese of Chiclayo.

Robert Prevost was Bishop of Chiclayo between 2014 and 2023, when Pope Francis took him to the Vatican to direct the Dicastery to the Bishops.

On the night of his election, the new Pope greeted in Spanish the “loved diocese of Chiclayo” on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica and praised the faithful for “walking alongside their bishop, sharing the faith and giving so much to remain a faithful Church to Jesus Christ”.

Leo XIV will spend most of his visit in Peru; he arrives in Lima on November 11 and leaves on the afternoon of the 16th, after a final mass in Callao, on the outskirts of Lima, where he performed the duties of temporary administrator.

During this period, he will spend some time in Chiclayo, including a private dinner with the priests of the diocese.

On November 15, he will meet with popular groups in Cusco, the Peruvian Andes, to celebrate the rich history of the city.

Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire and an important city during Spanish colonial rule; today, it remains a relevant cultural destination, housing ruins like those of Machu Picchu.

On the same day, he will pay tribute to the indigenous peoples of Peru by traveling to Pucallpa, in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon forest, to celebrate a mass.