I just listened to two interviews performed in Peru to Father Pablo Larrán, an Augustinian priest working in Northern Peru and personal friend of Pope Leo XIV.
I was struck by his words, “The new Pope is a person who loves, who feels deeply. Our Pope, what he comes to know, he loves. I am happy because I have received a Pope who is an Augustinian and a friend.”
Father Larrán quickly summarized the Pope’s ministry in Peru:
“In 1985, Father Robert Prevost arrived from Chicago to Peru, he was a young priest. I had arrived in 1979 from Spain. He arrived to Chulucanas in Northern Peru, a beautiful town where the Augustinians from the United States had a mission. While in Chulucanas, the Augustinians noticed Robert Prevost had the capacity to help form new Augustinians, so he was sent to Trujillo where he was in the Augustinian Seminary. After sixteen years in Peru, he was sent back to Chicago where he became the superior of his province. Afterwards, he was named for twelve years General Superior of the Augustinian Order.”
Father Larrán did not mention that in 2015, Father Prevost became Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru where he remained until 2023 when Pope Francis made him a cardinal and named him Prefect of the Dicastry of Bishops in Rome.
In regards to naturalizing a Peruvian citizen, Father Larrán recounted that “before leaving Peru, he told me if I could help him become a Peruvian citizen. It was the 90s. He did so, because he wanted to remain living in Peru in the future.” Pope Leo became a Peruvian citizen in 2015 after he returned to become the Bishop of Chiclayo in Northern Peru.
Father Larrán mentioned specifically in both interviews, that the first mention of Pope Leo wishing to become a Peruvian citizen happened at the Augustinian Seminary located south of Lima next to the tollbooth as you leave the city. I grew up right past that tollbooth, so passed it every day as we went in and out of the city. Next to the tollbooth stands a large water tower inside the property of the Augustinians which reads, “Padres Agustinos.”
When asked about the first words of the Pope overlooking Saint Peter Square, the Pope’s friend stated, “as Pope, in his first address to the world, he spoke in Spanish and addressed Peru and the people of Chiclayo. This shows he carries Peru and Chiclayo deep inside. It’s a blessing the Pope has us in his heart. He had millions of things to say at that moment, and he chose to address us. As I heard him, I said to myself, ‘this is Roberto, a man with a huge heart and with infinite humility.’
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