Pope Leo XIV calls for end to violence in Peru during visit to former diocese
Pope Leo XIV prayed for an end to rising crime in Peru during visits to his former cathedral in Chiclayo and a remote mountain community. Peru's homicide rate has nearly doubled in five years.
Pope Leo XIV condemns Peru's surging violence on return to former diocese
Pope Leo XIV used a visit to his former cathedral and a remote Andean community on Saturday to call for an end to the violence gripping Peru, according to apnews.com — addressing one of the country's most urgent crises during the ninth day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America.
At the Cathedral of Saint Mary in Chiclayo, where Leo served as bishop from 2014 to 2023, he entrusted his pontificate to the Virgin Mary before travelling by helicopter to Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, a mountain settlement 150 kilometres from central Chiclayo at an altitude of 2,035 metres above sea level.
"We feel threatened by the uncertainty of widespread violence and by the unspeakable suffering that continues to afflict so many of our brothers and sisters," Leo told the congregation at the cathedral. "Yet, despite this darkness, which so often dims our hope and weakens our trust, God's gift continues to shine before our eyes."
Peru's homicide rate has nearly doubled over the past five years, rising from 5.8 to 10.7 per 100,000 people. Reports of extortion jumped from 2,421 in 2019 to 26,734 in 2025, according to official data.
From cathedral to mountain periphery
Leo, born Robert Prevost, is widely admired in the Chiclayo region for his hands-on engagement with poor and outlying communities. As bishop, he would drive himself to Santa Cruz de Succhabamba in his pickup truck along difficult mountain roads.
"We all know the pope's love of cars," said the Rev. Kevin Noriega, who oversees pastoral services, speaking before Mass. "He would drive everywhere."
The helicopter journey to the settlement reflected a governing principle Leo applied throughout his time as bishop: that shepherds must travel to the peripheries to serve their flocks.
In Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, Leo acknowledged the appeal of responding to injustice with force but urged restraint.
"Selfishness, injustice and evil are not overcome by brutality, but by prayer, patience and perseverance in denouncing what is wrong, by making our pleas with determination and working diligently to bring about the necessary changes," he said.
Security crisis and political response
Conservative president Keiko Fujimori took office in July after campaigning on a pledge to tackle crime, which has become the leading concern for many Peruvians. Since taking office, she has declared states of emergency in Lima in August and in several prisons holding inmates linked to criminal organisations in September.
Fujimori has also moved to strengthen ties with Washington, bringing Peru into the "Shield of the Americas," a U.S.-led regional coalition formed to conduct joint military operations against drug cartels.
The country also contends with widespread illegal gold mining and is the world's second-largest producer of coca leaves — the raw material for cocaine — after Colombia, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Leo is expected to address those issues when he meets with Amazonian and Indigenous peoples on Sunday.
Sodalitium land dispute raised
Indigenous community representatives sought a meeting with Leo in Chiclayo to press a separate but longstanding concern: the loss of ancestral lands to companies linked to the influential Peruvian Catholic movement Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.
Members of the San Juan Bautista de Catacaos community are demanding justice and reparations from the Church. They allege that Sodalitium-linked companies used lawsuits and opaque land-titling arrangements to attempt to evict them from thousands of hectares in Catacaos. Dozens of community members were prosecuted for alleged "usurpation," and two community leaders were shot dead during clashes linked to the eviction efforts.
Pope Francis suppressed the Sodalitium last year, shortly before his death, after supporting the villagers' campaign. Community members, however, say the movement retains economic influence in Peru and are calling on the Vatican to take further steps.
"We recognise the importance of suppressing the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae. However, we believe that this decision — significant as it may be — cannot mark the end of a process that still has outstanding obligations toward the victims," community representative Fiorella Martínez said at a news conference on Saturday, reading from a letter addressed to Leo.
The disputes stretch back at least a decade, when Sodalitium-linked companies began legal proceedings following a series of property transfers the farming communities did not recognise.
Leo is familiar with the case. As bishop of Chiclayo, he served as the Peruvian bishops' designated contact for dealing with Sodalitium victims. In May, Peru's Catholic hierarchy held a symbolic reparation ceremony for Indigenous people who had lost their land.
Leo had received a joyous welcome in Chiclayo on Friday ahead of Saturday's ceremonies.
Source: Google News MT