Pope Leo XIV was greeted by another enormous crowd on Friday as he arrived at Pampas de Pimentel, a vast desert park outside the northern Peruvian city of Chiclayo, to celebrate an outdoor Mass in a diocese that he served as bishop for eight years before being summoned to Rome in 2023, where he was later elected pontiff.
The Vatican estimates that roughly 1.5 million faithful braved scorching sun and heat of 31 degrees Celsius (87 degrees Fahrenheit) to attend.
The event was the centerpiece of Leo's 12-day South American tour, throughout which an estimated 12 million people have turned out at stops in Uruguay and Argentina and now Peru.
Pope Leo, born Robert Prevost in Chicago, Illinois, had already referred to Peru, where he served as a missionary for some 20 years, as his homeland in remarks delivered on Wednesday.
Beyond US and Vatican citizenship, Leo also holds a Peruvian passport.
Leo, whom locals still refer to as "Padre Roberto" and "amigo," arrived from the capital Lima on Friday morning in a plane adorned with stickers reading "Leo XIV flies home." The leader of the Catholic Church's 1.4 billion members will remain in Chiclayo until Sunday.
An agricultural and commercial hub on the Pacific coast, Chiclayo is Peru's fourth largest city and has a population of 700,000.
