(DC file photo)
Back in Peru, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed that “distance does not necessarily diminish love for one’s homeland” as he highlighted his long-held roots to the country, urging the country’s leaders to help protect the “everyday peace” of its people.
The American had often considered Peru as a country he called home for more than two decades. He spoke to authorities and members of the diplomatic corps in his first public address at the ‘Gran Teatro Nacional’ in Peruvian capital of Lima.
“This return visit holds a very special meaning for me,” he explained, adding that his connection to Peru began long before he was the bishop of Chiclayo.
“For many years, I shared in the lives of its people, listened to their concerns and learned from their faith,” he shared.
Returning now to the Latin American nation as the ‘Successor of Peter’, Leo noted that his years in the country helped form him as a shepherd. He expressed deep gratitude for his time hereh and for the opportunity to return.
“I have received so much from you. There are faces, conversations and gestures of affection that, after all these years, remain with me,” he urged.
He remembered the people who opened their homes to him, particularly sharing “some good ceviche” with him, making him feel “like one of their own.”
In 2015, Pope Leo received Peruvian citizenship—an act, he highlighted, that “gave formal recognition to a bond that the people of this country had been weaving into my life long before.”
Standing in the capital city, the 71-year-old American pontiff proposed the Social Doctrine of the Church as “guidance and inspiration for all those working for the good of (Peru).”
“Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Rose and all the saints and blesseds of this land, I ask the Lord that the love of Christ may help you recognize in every Peruvian a brother or sister, and in each one of them, yet another reason to love your homeland,” he concluded.
