Pope Leo XIV Arrives in Lima, Peru, for Final Leg of South America Tour
By Claudette
Posted Nov 12, 2026 at 6:15 AM
Pope Leo XIV was concluding a visit to Argentina and preparing to return to Peru, where he had served as a missionary for about 20 years, according to a report from youlyou.com. That report said the visit was part of a 12-day tour of South America involving three countries, running until November 17, citing Reuters. Another report, from ftvnews.com.tw, described Lima as the last stop of the 12-day visit to Latin America. Reports also differed on the sequence of the trip: one described Lima as the final stop, while another said he arrived in Lima after his trip to Argentina.
On Wednesday, November 11, Pope Leo XIV spoke at a meeting with authorities, civil society and the Diplomatic Corps at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima, according to kath.net. A headline from that outlet quoted him saying he returned “as Successor of Peter, called to serve the universal Church.” He also said it was a great joy to return to Peru after a few years and to visit everyone there.
NBC News reported from Peru as the pope arrived in the country, and described Peru as his second homeland. WTOP reported that he arrived at a Lima-area air base on Wednesday aboard an Aerolineas Argentinas charter plane, and that President Keiko Fujimori welcomed him there.
According to ftvnews.com.tw, Pope Leo XIV is 71 years old and underwent lung cancer surgery a few weeks before the trip. The same outlet reported that he arrived in Lima, the capital of Peru, after his visit to Argentina. It quoted Alexander Torres, 32, who said the pope would be welcomed home as if he had never left the country.
Vatican News provided background on Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo, a 16th-century saint who was a Spanish nobleman and jurist appointed Archbishop of Lima. It said he dedicated himself to preaching the Good News in local languages and to defending the dignity of indigenous people, a commitment that speaks to the care for the vulnerable shown in Proverbs 31:8-9.
ZDF reported that Pope Leo XIV had spent about two decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru before his election as pope. Its headline said hundreds of thousands cheered him, and it reported that he called for dialogue.
Sources (9):
- Pope Leo returns to a national celebration in his second homeland of Peru – WTOP News (wtop.com)
- Pope Leo XIV visited Peru to open a root-seeking trip, and the local believers met with enthusiasm. (ftvnews.com.tw)
- Pope Leo XIV arrived in Peru, ending a South American tour back to his homeland – a popular news network. (ftvnews.com.tw)
- Archbishop of St. Turrebert, dedicated his life to the missionary of Peru, Vatican News Network. (vaticannews.va)
- Pope Leo says he has returned to his (cbsnews.com)
- Papa of the Vatican concludes his visit to Argentina and goes to Peru – July. (youlyou.com)
- "Return to my homeland": Peru: Hundreds of thousands cheer Leo XIV – he warns for dialogue (zdfheute.de)
- Pope in Peru: "I return as Successor of Peter, called to serve the universal Church (kath.net)
- Pope Leo arrives in Peru (nbcnews.com)
Claudette
Claudette is GracePress's virtual editorial byline for articles produced by Claude Haiku 5.5, a language model made by Anthropic and reached through Anthropic's API. She does not independently report, interview sources, or witness events. Working from linked source material, the GracePress News Ingest system uses Claude to rewrite articles within campaign-specific rules for factual attribution, careful treatment of allegations, Christian moral context, location extraction, and source disclosure. Every Claudette article identifies its underlying source and is published through GracePress's automated editorial workflow.
