ABRAnews Open the whole story. Sign in
World

Pope Leo holds Mass in his former Peruvian diocese, thanking crowd for health prayers

Reported Vatican crowd figures range from 500,000, per UPI, to more than 1.5 million, per the BBC. Leo says he is overcoming a health trial.

Pope Leo XIV on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica in 2025
Pope Leo XIV on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica in 2025. Photo: Edgar Beltrán / The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
11 news outlets reported this
Liberal4 outletsA homecoming of tears, memories and affectionCenter4 outletsThe Mass, its crowd, and the pope's thanksConservative3 outletsA vast crowd gathers for the pope
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

Pope Leo XIV celebrated an outdoor Mass on Friday, Nov. 13, at Pampas de Pimentel, a desert park outside Chiclayo, a northern Peruvian city where he was bishop for eight years until 2023. He flew in from Lima that morning. Many people spent the night at the site, some from across Peru and neighboring countries.

Leo began his homily with the words "What a joy it is to return to Chiclayo!" He thanked the crowd for prayers for his health "during this time of trial," which he said he is overcoming with God's help. He had lung cancer surgery shortly before the trip.

UPI reports that he also urged Catholics to share their faith through personal example and solidarity, and warned that religious indifference, materialism and selfishness challenge passing on the faith. The Mass is the centerpiece of his 12-day South American tour, which also included Argentina and Uruguay. UPI reports that on Thursday in Lima he met six survivors of abuse by clergy and religious institutions for more than an hour, according to the Vatican.

He stays in Chiclayo until Sunday. On Friday afternoon he was due to speak at the Catholic university where he once served as chancellor. UPI says he is to leave for Rome on Monday.

Key figures
  • 12-daylength of Leo's South American tourDeutsche Welle
  • six survivorsclergy abuse survivors Leo met in Lima on Thursday, per the VaticanUPI
  • eight yearstime Leo served as bishop of ChiclayoDeutsche Welle

Three sides of the story

4Liberal4Center3Conservative

11 news outlets reported this

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal4 outlets

A homecoming of tears, memories and affection

NBC News calls it a "triumphant return" to the city where he was bishop. It expects a crowd smaller than the estimated 3 million of Lima but more fervent, and quotes Maria Esther Chozo Reyes, 76, who camped overnight: "We really need his blessing." NBC recalls his years as bishop, from the oxygen plant drive to wading through floodwaters after Cyclone Maku.

It notes he sat beside Peru's president, Keiko Fujimori, on Thursday and urged leaders toward honesty and integrity. ABC News carries an AP report that opens on his image everywhere in Chiclayo, in murals, baseball hats and bobbleheads. It gives the word to the Rev. Jasson Sempertegui, who was his secretary: "The pope is Chiclayano!"

It also quotes Betania Marina Rodriguez, who lives in one of the homes he oversaw for Venezuelan migrants: "He always said that human dignity has no borders."

Center4 outlets

The Mass, its crowd, and the pope's thanks

Deutsche Welle leads with the Mass itself, citing a Vatican estimate of roughly 1.5 million people in 31-degree heat, and quotes his homily thanking the faithful for their prayers. BBC News puts the Vatican estimate at more than 1.5 million and gives voice to Isa Orderique, who "spent the night praying." It also quotes Lisbeth Díaz, a teacher who came to Chiclayo from Venezuela, on how he helped migrants get residency papers, and covers the controversy over the dissolution of the Sodalitium of Christian Life.

UPI cites Vatican figures relayed by EWTN News Español for some 500,000 attendees. It adds his homily on evangelization and his Thursday meeting with six abuse survivors. The Seattle Times runs an AP report on the run-up to the Mass, describing "popemania" and church organizers expecting as many as a million people.

It portrays a pope "positively giddy" on his home turf.

Conservative3 outlets

A vast crowd gathers for the pope

The New York Post runs a Reuters report that opens on a vast crowd arriving early Friday for what it calls the centerpiece of his 12-day tour, an outdoor Mass with people who knew him as their bishop. It notes that Chiclayo is 10,700 km from Rome and that locals still call him "Padre" or "Amigo." Karina Chinglay, 40, who walked with her mother and two children in matching Pope Leo shirts, says: "we didn't imagine the scale of it."

The report adds that Leo has drawn an estimated 10 million people to events in just over a week, with some 3 million in Lima. Officials in Chiclayo had estimated that a million could come. It says he will lead eight events through Sunday, including a private dinner with priests who served under him as bishop, and has appeared in good form after lung cancer surgery.

What a side did not mention
  • Liberal outlets did not mentionThe dissolution of the Sodalitium of Christian Life, a Catholic organization linked to abuse allegations Reported by UPI, BBC News
  • Conservative outlets did not mentionThe dissolution of the Sodalitium of Christian Life, a Catholic organization linked to abuse allegations Reported by UPI, BBC News
Where outlets disagree
All sources: 14 articles from 11 outlets

Liberal (6)

Center (5)

Conservative (3)

Related
  1. Pope Leo begins 12-day Latin America trip three weeks after lung cancer surgery
  2. Pope Leo urges Argentina to protect the vulnerable at a disability care home
  3. Pope Leo ends Argentina visit with prison stop and Mass, heads to Peru
  4. Pope Leo denounces machismo and violence against women in Peru
  5. Pope Leo holds Mass in his former Peruvian diocese, thanking crowd for health prayersThis story