A remote Andean village with just 6,000 residents swelled to more than three times its size when Pope Leo XIV touched down by helicopter on Saturday. His emotional return drew an estimated 20,000 people eager to hear him address the quiet crisis draining the region of its families during this milestone Pope Leo Peru visit.
Standing before the massive outdoor Mass in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, the pontiff directly confronted the economic hardship that forces rural workers to abandon their homes. He spoke plainly about declining birth rates emptying mountain villages and criticized the unequal distribution of the land’s resources.
Also read: Pope Leo Peru Visit: Pontiff Urges End to Brutality
For the residents of northern Peru’s Cajamarca region, his words described a reality they live with every day.
Why Cajamarca is losing its people
Cajamarca struggles with the highest poverty rate in Peru, with official data showing more than 40% of its residents living below the poverty line. That economic strain has made the area the country’s biggest source of internal migration.
Today, 729,000 people born in Cajamarca live somewhere else in Peru. Whole settlements have thinned out as young adults leave mountain farming behind to seek wages in coastal cities.
Pope Leo acknowledged that separation during his sermon, telling the crowd he recognized the pain of people pushed away from their roots.
“suffering of those who are forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future”
Despite those struggles, he urged the gathered crowd never to lose heart, thanking those who travelled across rough mountain roads to attend.
Welcoming back ‘Father Robert’
The stop carried deep personal meaning for the crowd because Santa Cruz de Succhabamba sits inside the Diocese of Chiclayo, where Pope Leo served as bishop from 2015 until 2023. During those eight years, he travelled into the mountains several times a year to minister directly to the rural population.
Many in the crowd still remember him simply as “Father Robert.” The US-born pontiff spent long stretches living in Peru between 1985 and 2023, eventually taking Peruvian citizenship in 2015.
Rev. Kevin Noriega, who was ordained by the bishop in 2018, said the homecoming brought immense emotion to the mountain town after years of waiting to see their former pastor return as head of the Catholic Church.
Speaking at a local parish, the pope admitted he felt deep joy being back among familiar faces, calling the reunion a blessing he had long hoped to see granted.
A personal stop on the Pope Leo Peru visit
This high-altitude stop represents the emotional core of the pontiff’s 12-day tour across Latin America, his first since his election in May 2025. After earlier stops in Argentina and Uruguay, Peru has served as the longest leg of the journey.
Instead of sticking solely to grand cathedrals in major coastal cities, the Pope Leo Peru visit carved out time for isolated communities that rarely see international figures. Later on Saturday, he climbed into the popemobile to weave through cheering crowds that lined the unpaved streets.
Where the Latin America tour goes next
Pope Leo leaves the Chiclayo region on Sunday to continue his demanding itinerary. His schedule takes him first to the historic southern city of Cusco before he flies into the Peruvian sector of the Amazon rainforest.
The Latin American tour officially wraps up on Monday, when the pontiff departs Peru and boards his flight back to Rome.
Source: BBC
