Bishop Prevost “left a significant mark here, through his personal style, his character, and his actions,” Jorge Villegas, vicar general of the Diocese of Chiclayo, told AFP.
“He reached every last corner of the Diocese of Chiclayo, a region where the geography is far from easy,” he said.
Prevost remained close to the poor and local communities during periods of hardship, including the Covid-19 pandemic and devastating floods, at one point donning rubber boots to wade through muddy waters to help those in need.
Locals remember his “solidarity,” Villegas said, “standing by us during several natural disasters.”
He also spearheaded the construction of plants that produce life-saving oxygen during the pandemic, the vicar general said.
“A LOT OF CHARISMA”
Leo will lead a mass on the Pampas de Pimentel, a vast and hot desert plain on Peru’s northern coast, which is expected to draw around a million pilgrims, before meeting with clergy, then staff and students at a Catholic university.
He will privately visit the San Oscar Romero chapel in one of Chiclayo’s humblest neighborhoods, which he helped rebuild, and dine with Chiclayo’s priests – perhaps on ceviche, a dish of raw fish marinated in lime juice which he loves.
On Thursday, dozens of people gathered in the historic centre in front of the cathedral, enjoying the festive atmosphere ahead of Leo’s arrival.
Among them – wearing a cap with a picture of the pope on it – was Katerine Preciado, a 33-year-old Catholic from Colombia who now lives in Peru near the border with Ecuador, where criminal gangs recruit the young.
She said she hopes the pope will deliver “a message of peace, reconciliation, and mercy – a message full of love,” and help Peru “reconcile as a nation” and become a safer place.
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