Pope! Amigo! Peruvian commemoration of the young American Pope

Pope! Amigo! Peruvian commemoration of the young American Pope

chiclayo, Peru - there was a lot of hustle and bustle in the main plaza of Chiclayo. Hammer noises and music fulfilled the air, while people were expectant for the stage with large digital screens that were built in front of the city cathedral. The open trade fair on Saturday promised to be particularly festive: it celebrated the survey of Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope-better known here as Robert, the first Chiclayano pope.

an unforgettable event

The open doors of the cathedral formed a snake of women who prepared themselves for the confessional discussion. A children's choir sang on the steps, while two men led a dance class in short pants, which fought for attention with the deep bass of secular music on the street. Banner hung over the Plaza with the smiling face of Leo, whose 3 meter high representation reminded people of the coming evening. A local restaurant campaigned with a sign for his popular goat stew, which was supposedly Leo's favorite dish when he lived here.

a prayer for a miracle

in the cathedral, Amalia Cruzado, 52, was sitting in the benches and cried quietly while she stretched out her arms.

"It's a day of miracles. Chiclayo is so blessed," she said. After her prayer, she would go home and pick up her family to take part in the evening mass; Her elderly father, who suffers from cancer, urgently needed a miracle for his health.

The roots of Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo was born in the United States as Robert Prevost, but for his adopted nation Peru, where he acquired citizenship in 2015, he is a chiclayano, a son of the busy city in northern Peru, in which he worked as a bishop for years after working as a priest in the country.

memories of childhood

Here everyone has a story about him. In the 1980s, Nicanor Palacios was a valet alongside Leo during his early priestly in nearby Piura and traveled with him to the services. "As a young priest, he was often sent to the field," recalled Palacios, who is now working as a technician at the Air Force. "He took us with the parish's jeep for lunch."

"It was not difficult for him to get involved. At that time there was a small village named kilometer 50 on Panamerikstraße. There he took us to dry meat and fried cooking bananas. He liked this type of food and the rural surroundings.

"I appreciated the most advice because many young people were lost at the time, but he was a young man, 24 or 25 years old, very serious and full of advice," said Palacios, whose mother died early and became a second family for the Leo and the other valet.