Upon arriving in the capital of the Lambayeque region, 780 kilometers north of Lima, His Holiness will celebrate a Mass on the expansive Pampas de Pimentel, on the outskirts of Chiclayo.

Many faithful are expected to attend the religious ceremony. Local accommodations are fully booked, as people have arrived from the nearby regions of Trujillo, Piura, and Tumbes, and even from Lima and neighboring Ecuador.

The special visit to Chiclayo by the man who was once Bishop Robert Francis Prevost is because he served as the city’s bishop and was highly regarded for his humility and empathy; he was so well-known that everyone called him “Padre Roberto” (Father Robert).

Since he was elected Pope, the people of Chiclayo have lived in near-constant celebration, unveiled a massive statue of Leo XIV, and often remark that the man who was “Padre Roberto” is, above all, a resident of Chiclayo.

Later, he will pay a private visit to the Chapel of Saint Oscar A. Romero, the Bishop of San Salvador who was assassinated by paramilitaries in the Salvadoran capital while celebrating a Mass, in retaliation for his denunciations of human rights violations.

He will then meet with bishops, priests, religious men and women, seminarians, synodal teams, and pastoral councils from the Lambayeque region, and hold another meeting at the Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Catholic University.

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