Pope Leo XIV is putting the spotlight on Afro-Peruvians during a visit to a hub of their community
ZAÑA, Peru -- When Susana Baca, the Latin Grammy-winning Afro-Peruvian singer, serenaded Pope Leo XIV upon his arrival in Peru, it was a sign that the visit would provide an unparalleled spotlight on the culture that grew out of the African slave trade in this country.
Baca was also Peru’s first Black Cabinet minister, and she became a leading figure in the campaign to end the discrimination that has long made second-class citizens of Black Peruvians and Peru’s Indigenous peoples.
The U.S.-born Leo, whose own family tree includes enslaved people and slave owners, is expected to highlight Peru’s African-descended community when he visits the hub of Afro-Peruvian culture on Saturday in the city of Zaña.
Leo will lead a prayer meeting at the sanctuary of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo in Zaña, where he often visited to pray while he was bishop of nearby Chiclayo.
In the 16th century, Mogrovejo was the first archbishop of Lima. He defended the rights of Indigenous and enslaved people and was known for having confirmed St. Martin de Porres, the first Black saint of the Americas and the patron saint of racial harmony, social justice and people of multiracial backgrounds.
