"Padre Roberto" (Father Robert) wants to return—for a visit—to Peru. "To my beloved Diocese of Chiclayo," he said on May 8, 2025, as the world held its breath awaiting the Catholic Church's new leader.
The point is that Robert Francis Prevost Martinez is now Pope Leo XIV and must follow protocols and schedules, while maintaining a perspective that goes beyond his own will.
But the Supreme Pontiff has the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So, when he addressed the organization of the 34th World Day of the Sick in 2026, his cherished Chiclayo returned to his mind.
"The Pope is from Chiclayo"
The host was Augustinian Monsignor Edinson Farfan Cordova, a native of Tambogrande, Piura region, northern Peru.
Robert Prevost served as a formator of Augustinians and as a professor of Canon Law and Moral Theology, as well as rector in charge of the seminary while he lived at the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Convent in the city of Trujillo.
Monsignor Farfan was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo by Pope Francis in February 2024, when Cardinal Prevost served as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and Chairman of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
Farfan played a very active role starting in October 2021, when the process of the Synod on Synodality, convened by Pope Francis, began.
He was one of the youngest bishops and carried the burden of his senior counterparts. The Synod aims to listen to the people of God and to discern.
With strong doses of anticlericalism, the internal reform faced—and still faces—very strong generational resistance.
Jorge Bergoglio left the task; Prevost is resuming it under his model of a migrant, pilgrim, and missionary.
Personal representative
Meanwhile, Cardinal Michael Czerny—another migrant bishop (Czechoslovak by birth and Canadian by adoption)—had already been appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in April 2022.
Pope Leo XIV appointed him his special envoy for the World Day of the Sick, which has just taken place in his beloved Chiclayo, a must-visit destination during his trip to our country, scheduled for the end of this year.
In August 2022, Pope Francis appointed Monsignor Paolo Rocco Gualtieri as Apostolic Nuncio to Peru.
The Nuncio is the Pope's representative to the local Church and holds the Holy See's highest diplomatic rank before a State.
He succeeded Nicola Girasoli, who had served eight years in our country. Gualtieri arrived in Peru after representing the Pope for seven years in Madagascar.
He received episcopal consecration from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State since 2013.
Lunching with Peruvians
Pope Leo XIV's identification with Peru is so strong that he surprised Peruvian bishops during their Ad Limina visit to the Holy See last January.
The Peruvian Episcopal Conference (CEP)—led by its Chairman and Lurin Bishop Carlos Garcia Camader—described it as "a gesture of closeness and communion that strengthens the Church's pastoral mission in Peru."
The national episcopate is undergoing a significant generational transition under the leadership of Monsignor Garcia Camader and with the choice of his vice chairmen, Jorge Izaguirre Rafael (Bishop of Chosica) and Luis Alberto Barrera (Bishop of Callao).
Lizardo Estrada Herrera, Secretary General of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (Celam) and Auxiliary Bishop of Cusco, of the Augustinian Order, served as provincial superior while Cardinal Robert Prevost was prior general.
Leo XIV was Estrada Herrera's formator in Canon Law and Augustinian Spirituality in Trujillo.
He concelebrated his priestly ordination on August 7, 2005, at the Cathedral of the Lord of the Exaltation in Chuquibambilla, Apurimac region.
The Pope knows them all, and for that reason he is already on his way.
(END) TB/JVV/MVB
Published: 3/11/2026