Pope Leo XIV will return to Peru in November on an official apostolic visit that will trace the key cities and communities where he served as a missionary, priest, and bishop before his election to the papacy.
The Holy See has released the official schedule for the tour, four decades after the former Robert Prevost first arrived in the South American nation as a young Augustinian friar. The visit will highlight the places where the pontiff carried out much of his pastoral work prior to his appointment to high office in Rome.
Pope Leo XIV's history with Peru began in 1985, when the 30-year-old Prevost was sent by the Order of Saint Augustine to Chulucanas, a city in the northern region of Piura. He spent one year there during his initial missionary posting in the country. Official Vatican records state that during this period he served as vice-pastor of the Cathedral of the Holy Family and chancellor of the territorial prelature of Chulucanas, an administrative jurisdiction entrusted to the Augustinian order.
The Order of Saint Augustine is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the 13th century whose members follow the teachings of Saint Augustine of Hippo and focus on education, parish ministry, and missionary outreach across the globe. Piura is a major agricultural region located in northwestern Peru near the equator.
After a brief return to the United States, Prevost returned to Peru in 1988 to join the Augustinian mission in Trujillo. His posting in Trujillo became one of his longest stays in the country, lasting from 1988 until 1998. During this decade, he served as prior of the local Augustinian community and director of formation.
He was also master of professed and taught canon law, moral theology, and patristics at the San Carlos and San Marcelo Archdiocesan Major Seminary. Alongside his academic work, he carried out extensive pastoral duties in various local parishes, building daily connections with local congregations. Trujillo, located on the Pacific coast, is Peru's third-most populous city and a major historical center of the region.
According to the Holy See's official biography, Prevost remained in northern Peru until 1999, when he was elected prior provincial of the Augustinian Midwest Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel in the United States and returned home.
Episcopal Leadership in Chiclayo and Callao
Fifteen years after his first arrival in Chulucanas, Prevost returned to Peru in November 2014 to take on a higher responsibility when he was named apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, receiving episcopal ordination shortly after. In 2015, he was formally appointed Bishop of Chiclayo and gained Peruvian citizenship by naturalization during the same year.
Throughout his tenure in Chiclayo, he remained closely involved in local community projects and assumed senior roles within the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. In 2020, he was also appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Callao, a coastal port province adjacent to Lima.
In Callao, Prevost focused on initiatives to curb youth violence, officiated Masses inside correctional facilities, and organized community soup kitchens known as ollas comunes in impoverished neighborhoods such as Ventanilla and Pachacútec. Luis Alberto Barrera Pacheco, second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference and Bishop of Callao, said Prevost demonstrated complete commitment during his pastoral leadership in both Chiclayo and Callao.
In 2023, Pope Francis called Prevost to Rome to serve as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. The Dicastery for Bishops is the department of the Roman Curia that evaluates episcopal candidates and oversees the administration of Catholic dioceses worldwide.
Arrival and Events in Chiclayo
The papal tour will begin its northern leg on Friday, November 13, when Pope Leo XIV travels from Lima to Chiclayo. Upon arrival, he will celebrate an outdoor Mass at Pampas de Pimentel, a coastal plain area near the city.
Later that day, the Pope will hold formal gatherings with bishops, priests, religious workers, seminarians, and leaders from the university sector. He will end his first day in the region by hosting a dinner with local clergy from the Diocese of Chiclayo.
On Saturday, November 14, the pontiff will visit the Cathedral of Saint Mary in Chiclayo to participate in the solemn crowning ceremony of the image of the Immaculate Virgin. Following the cathedral service, he will board a helicopter at the Chiclayo Air Base to travel to the mountain township of Santa Cruz de Succhabamba.
Helicopter Visit to Santa Cruz and Zaña Sanctuary
The official program specifies that the Pope's helicopter will land at the helipad in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba at 9:50 a.m. on Saturday, November 14. He will celebrate Mass at 11:00 a.m. before flying back to Chiclayo to continue his scheduled events.
That evening at 5:30 p.m., Pope Leo XIV will attend a prayer service at the Sanctuary of Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo in Zaña. The gathering marks the official closing of the Jubilee Year of Saint Toribio, honoring the Spanish-born 16th-century archbishop of Lima who is venerated as the patron saint of the Latin American episcopate for his extensive missionary travels and defense of indigenous rights.
The two-day itinerary allows the Pope to revisit multiple sites across the northern region that formed part of his former diocesan jurisdiction.
Journey Across Cusco, Pucallpa, and Lima
Sunday, November 15, will be one of the most extensive days of the papal tour, taking Pope Leo XIV from Chiclayo to the Andean highlands of Cusco, into the Amazonian rainforest city of Pucallpa, and back to Lima.
The pontiff will depart Chiclayo Air Base at 7:50 a.m. bound for Cusco. At 10:30 a.m., he will meet with Catholic faithful and representatives of popular religious movements at the Saqsaywaman Archaeological National Park, a historic Inca citadel overlooking the city.
At 11:45 a.m., the Pope will lead the traditional Angelus prayer with the local Catholic community in the public square outside the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Cusco. Cusco sits high in the Peruvian Andes and served as the ancient capital of the Inca Empire.
At 1:05 p.m., the papal flight will depart Cusco for Pucallpa in eastern Peru. The aircraft is scheduled to land at Captain FAP David Abensur Rengifo International Airport in Pucallpa at 2:30 p.m. Pucallpa is an inland port city situated along the Ucayali River, a primary tributary of the Amazon River.
At 3:00 p.m., half an hour after arriving, Pope Leo XIV will gather at the Malecón Puerto Callao waterfront promenade with Catholic missionaries and leaders representing indigenous Amazonian communities. At 4:45 p.m., he will preside over Mass at the Villa Deportiva Regional Ucayali sports complex.
The Pope will board a return flight to Lima at 7:05 p.m., landing at Callao Air Base at 8:20 p.m.
Final Mass and Departure for Rome
On Monday, November 16, the final day of his Peruvian tour, Pope Leo XIV will visit a care home operated by the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly at 8:30 a.m. At 10:30 a.m., he will celebrate a large farewell Mass at Las Palmas Air Base in Lima.
Following an official farewell ceremony scheduled for 1:15 p.m. at Callao Air Base, the pontiff will depart for Italy at 1:45 p.m. The papal flight is scheduled to land at Rome Fiumicino International Airport at 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday, November 17, completing the apostolic journey.
Kurt Mendoza, former head of press and communications for the Peruvian Episcopal Conference and Church analyst, said the upcoming visit represents the closing of a journey that started when Prevost first stepped foot in Peru as a young missionary.
Mendoza highlighted three pivotal chapters in Prevost's trajectory: his initial arrival in Chulucanas in 1985, his appointment as Bishop of Chiclayo, and his eventual farewell when called to Rome. Mendoza said those two decades in Peru appeared to forge the character of a priest and ultimately a bishop.
Mendoza added that returning as Pope carries a deeply personal dimension, offering the pontiff an opportunity to reconnect with the people and places that shaped his pastoral life over twenty years.
