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The ceremony to honor Pope Leo XIV in the Peruvian city where he served as bishop for roughly eight years began on Saturday night with a procession of altar boys and priests. It ended long past dark with dancers in devil costumes swirling on the steps of his former church.<\/p>\n
In between, there was a Mass, communion, many hymns, a student band, a chorus, fireworks, a musical performance by one of the priests \u2014 cheered like a rock star in a white robe \u2014 and chant after chant about the \u201cpapa Chiclayano,\u201d the pope from Chiclayo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Chiclayo, in northern Peru, is the country\u2019s fifth-largest city and was the pope\u2019s home from 2014 to 2023. Here he is known for traveling the region\u2019s mountains and coast for long hours by car, and occasionally on horseback, and for his forceful sermons in fluent Spanish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
To celebrate him, hundreds of people filled the lush plaza in front of the city\u2019s towering, yellowing cathedral. There were nuns in white habits and church groups in matching vests. Flanking the cathedral doors were two giant banners with pictures of a smiling Pope Leo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The swirling dancers \u2014 performing the \u201cdance of the little devils of T\u00facume,\u201d a nearby region \u2014 were the capstone event. Fireworks shot out of a headdress worn by the principal devil, who fought an angel. Several who were present called the dance a representation of the battle between good and evil.<\/p>\n
In the religious segment of the event, tambourines rattled as the new bishop of Chiclayo, Edinson Farf\u00e1n, took to the microphone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He recalled the pope as \u201ca shepherd who smelled of the sheep\u201d \u2014 a phrase used repeatedly in Chiclayo in recent days to refer to Pope Leo as a man who was close to his congregation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cLeo XIV has taught us to live the Gospel through closeness to the poor, to the most vulnerable, to those who suffer, the migrants, the refugees,\u201d said Bishop Farf\u00e1n. \u201cHe is a man deeply sensitive to social justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Chiclayo has rarely, if ever, had such a celebrity connection, and in recent days it has glittered with excitement. New street signs have gone up: \u201cWelcome to Chiclayo, the city of Pope Leo XIV.\u201d Restaurants are offering Pope specials. (\u201cHappy Mother\u2019s Day!\u201d read the board outside the Trebol, a restaurant next to the cathedral. \u201cToday: Chiclayan goat, the favorite of Pope Leo XIV. WELCOME!!!\u201d)<\/p>\n
And by the weekend, the regional tourism board had organized a pope tour for the news media, featuring places that figured prominently in the former bishop\u2019s time in Chiclayo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Chiclayo was religious before the pope arrived in 2014, and it still is. There are eight separate masses in the main cathedral on Sundays, and hundreds of people attend each one, said Father Jorge Mill\u00e1n, a priest in Chiclayo who is close to the pope. What the pope did was encourage people to take their faith beyond the church and participate in social work, he said.<\/p>\n
During the ceremony on Saturday, Bishop Farf\u00e1n said that the pope, as bishop, had \u201caccompanied the Holy Father Leo XIV on his pilgrimage so that he may now accompany and guide the universal church. From Chiclayo, from Latin America \u2014 the continent of hope \u2014 to the rest of the world!\u201d<\/p>\n
The crowd burst into a cheer: \u201cPapa! Amigo! Chiclayo est\u00e1 contigo!\u201d (\u201cPope! Friend! Chiclayo stands with you!\u201d)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n