From His Former Cathedral, Pope Leo XIV Prays for Peace in a Peru Shaken by Crime

Pope Leo XIV went home to pray for his people. Speaking Saturday from the cathedral in Chiclayo, the northern Peruvian city where he once served as bishop, the pontiff asked God for an end to the violence ravaging Peru, the Associated Press reported ^[1]. The prayer came during a Marian ceremony in the church where his ministry as a bishop began, before he flew into the Andes to celebrate Mass in a remote corner of his former diocese.

In the cathedral, the pope spoke of a darkness enveloping the country, which the AP described as a reference to the rising crime that has battered Peruvians during a period of political instability ^[1]. "We feel threatened by the uncertainty of widespread violence," he said, adding that so many brothers and sisters continue to suffer ^[1]. Yet even in that darkness, he told the faithful, God's gift continues to shine before their eyes ^[1].

A crown for the Mother of Chiclayo

The occasion was the coronation of Chiclayo's beloved image of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, which the pope crowned amid cheering crowds in front of the Cathedral of Holy Mary, Rome Reports said ^[2]. The agency described the rite as a meeting of two defining moments in his life: his first steps as Bishop of Chiclayo and his present responsibility as head of the universal Church ^[2]. In his prayer, Leo entrusted his life and his ministry as Successor of Peter to the Virgin ^[2]. "By your side, I learned to be a shepherd," he told her, in words Rome Reports carried in its headline ^[2].

The AP likewise reported that the pope entrusted his pontificate to the Virgin Mary in the special ceremony ^[1]. EWTN News reported that thousands turned out for the crowning and that Leo described devotion to the Immaculate Virgin as "part of the Christian roots that shape your identity and strengthen your faith" ^[3]. Leo led the Chiclayo diocese until 2023, before he was called to Rome ^[3].

For Catholics, crowning an image of Mary is an act of love and trust, not ornament. A pastor who placed his whole papacy in her care, in the city where he learned to lead, was teaching his old flock something about where hope comes from when the news is grim.

In a troubled nation, a call to persevere

The news in Peru has been grim. Reports of extortion rose from 2,421 in 2019 to 26,734 in 2025, according to official data cited by the AP, while the homicide rate nearly doubled over five years, from 5.8 to 10.7 per 100,000 people ^[1]. Peru recorded 1,261 femicide victims between 2016 and 2024, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics, and the annual number of women killed because of their gender rose 44% over that span, the AP reported ^[1]. Earlier in the visit, in Lima, Leo denounced machismo and called for protecting women from such killings ^[1].

The country also faces widespread illegal gold mining and is the world's second-largest producer of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, after Colombia, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ^[1]. Peru's government has repeatedly prolonged a state of emergency in Metropolitan Lima and the port of Callao to fight crime, including a 30-day extension announced in August, according to El Peruano, the official state newspaper ^[6].

From Chiclayo, Leo traveled by helicopter to the green mountains of Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, at the far edge of his former diocese ^[1]. There, the AP reported, he acknowledged the temptation to answer injustice with violence but urged a different response ^[1].

Related Tucson Evangelist Takes City to Court for the Right to Share Christ at Christmas Festival

His homily, published by the Vatican, drew on the Gospel parable of the persistent widow who kept pleading for justice. Faced with so many difficulties, he said, people may be tempted toward discouragement, resentment or even violence, but that path will never lead to progress and peace ^[4]. Selfishness, injustice and evil are overcome not by brutality, he preached, but by prayer, patience and perseverance in denouncing what is wrong ^[4]. He also spoke about families leaving the countryside, falling birth rates that are emptying small towns, and the need for a fair share of the benefits from the region's natural resources ^[4].

It was a homily for people with every human reason to be angry. The pope did not tell them to ignore injustice. He told them to keep naming it, keep praying and refuse the shortcut of revenge.

What comes next

The pope's Peruvian journey continues Sunday in Cusco, where he is scheduled to meet the faithful and representatives of popular devotion at Saqsaywaman and to lead the Angelus outside the cathedral, before flying to Pucallpa to meet missionaries and representatives of Amazonian peoples ^[5]. The AP reported that he is expected to address violence again in that encounter with Amazonian and Indigenous communities ^[1]. On Monday, Leo is scheduled to celebrate Mass at the Las Palmas Air Base in Lima before departing for Rome, closing the final leg of his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru ^[5].

For the people of Chiclayo, the weekend was a homecoming and a blessing. For the wider Church, it was a reminder that the successor of Peter still carries the burdens of the families he once served, and still brings them, first of all, to prayer.