Pope Leo XIV has been formally invited to visit Peru, his adoptive country, by the leadership of the Peruvian bishops’ conference.
Newsroom (02 July 2025, Gaudium Press ) – Less than two months after his election to the papacy, Pope Leo XIV has been formally invited to visit Peru, his adoptive country, by the Peruvian bishops’ conference, marking a significant moment in his young pontificate.
In a statement published June 30 on the website of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference (CEP), the bishops announced that a delegation from Peru attended the June 29 Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul at the Vatican, a major feast day honoring the patrons of Rome. The celebration also serves as the traditional occasion for the pope to bestow the pallium—a woolen band symbolizing an archbishop’s unity with the pope and responsibility for their flock—on new metropolitan archbishops.
During the June 29 Mass, Pope Leo XIV personally conferred the pallium on Archbishop Alfredo Vizcarra of Trujillo, Peru, who succeeded Bishop Miguel Cabrejos, former CEP president, following his retirement. This marked a return to the pre-2015 tradition of the pope bestowing the pallium during the Vatican liturgy, reversing a practice introduced by Pope Francis, who had Vatican envoys deliver the pallium in archbishops’ home dioceses to foster local participation.
A delegation of 15 Peruvian prelates, led by Bishop Carlos García Camader of Lurín, CEP president, attended the Mass. Some were also in Rome for the June 23-27 Jubilee of seminarians, bishops, and priests. On June 30, the delegation met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, where they extended an official invitation for him to visit Peru.
In a letter quoted in the CEP statement, Bishop García Camader expressed “profound affection and closeness” to the Holy Father on behalf of Peru’s bishops and people, thanking him for his special connection to Peru, where he served pastorally for many years before his May 8 election as pope. “Your presence will renew the hope of our people, strengthen the faith of our communities, and it will be a beautiful sign of communion with the universal Church,” the letter stated.
The delegation included prominent figures such as Bishop Luis Alberto Barrera of Callao, CEP second vice president; Bishop Antonio Santarsiero of Huacho, CEP secretary general; Bishop Alfredo Vizcarra of Trujillo; Bishop Pedro Bustamante of Huánuco; Bishop Marco Antonio Cortez of Tacna and Moquegua; Bishop César Augusto Huerta of Sicuani; Bishop Ricardo García, prelate of Yauyos; Bishop Lizardo Estrada, auxiliary of Cuzco and CELAM secretary general; Bishop Raúl Chau, auxiliary of Arequipa; Bishop Juan Carlos Asqui, auxiliary of Tacna and Moquegua; Father Guillermo Inca, CEP adjunct secretary general; and Cardinal Pedro Jimeno Barreto, archbishop emeritus of Huancayo and CEAMA president.
Since his election, Pope Leo XIV has frequently met with Peruvian prelates and expressed a desire to visit Peru, though no date for an apostolic visit has been confirmed. His ties to the country remain strong, as evidenced by his retention of Peruvian citizenship, granted in 2015 after his appointment as bishop of Chiclayo. On May 18, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte attended Pope Leo’s inauguration Mass in St. Peter’s Square. Later that month, a delegation from Peru’s National Registry of Identification and Civil Status visited the Vatican to update the pope’s Peruvian National Identity document to reflect his new role.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
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