Leo XIV, The Peruvian Pope In More Ways Than One

-OpEd-

LIMA — Leo XIV, the U.S.-born pope with dual Peruvian citizenship, has a soft spot for two signature dishes of this renowned gastronomic pole. One is the goat stew known as seco de cabrito, and the other is ceviche, the tangy ‘fish salad’ appreciated across the Pacific coast of the Americas.

Peru is not a country whose food, or politics, leave you indifferent, and the future pontiff born Robert Francis Prevost spent much of his life there, in the north of the country, where many remember him simply as Father Roberto. 

Two years ago on the eve of his departure for an influential position in the Roman Curia, Prevost told locals he was going to “continue as a missionary wherever God may call me.” Who could guess that meant the local padre becoming supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church as successor to Francis.. and to Saint Peter.

The election of a “Peruvian pope” as Peru’s president, Dina Boluarte, is calling Leo, is a breath of fresh air, and of hope, for a country with three ex-presidents in jail for corruption or coup-mongering, as well as rates of violence, extortion and murder competing with the worst on the continent.

Yet God remembered Peru, as many have been heard to be saying on the streets of what was once a devoutly Catholic country and a vice-royalty of the Spanish empire. Boluarte, a former Marxist, has declared that his election showed “God loves Peru.” 

Back in Peru

In his first speech after rising to the papacy, Leo XIV’s references to his former diocese, Chiclayo, and to Peru, provoked a confused commotion — like a momentary biblical repetition of Babel. Few knew he spoke Spanish and had been the bishop of Chiclayo.

He has since set off an euphoric wave across the American continent: and they’re already selling T-shirts bearing his face. This is the second straight pontiff who is not only a fluent Spanish-speaker but also quite tuned in to the continent’s socio-economic problems.

Nobody need inform him of its privations as he has gone from district to district on horseback, and walked the streets through the thick of the 2020 pandemic to give a message of solidarity and companionship.

We shall never know how much Jorge Bergoglio, his Argentine-born predecessor with a vigorous social vocation, had a hand in Prevost’s election and how much this was to do with the Holy Spirit swaying the conclave of cardinals. But the new pontiff’s pastoral record augurs a good start to another papacy for the poor and needy.

Leo XIV’s merits, and legacy, will of course emerge in time, as will the fruit of any efforts to bring the Church closer to society and youth. This, alongside an interminable search for peace, may prove to be his great challenges.

Leo XIV vs. Trump

Leo is the first pope to be a member of the Order of Saint Augustine (Francis was the first Jesuit), and has also studied mathematics, theology and law. Time will also tell us how he will take decisions as a dual national of two such contrasting states. Will there be bipolarity, if not confrontation, between Leo XIV and Donald J. Trump, a U.S. President so disdainful of Latin America? Which will have a greater global impact: Trump’s tariffs and verbal provocations, or Leo’s prayers and conciliatory sermons?

Chiclayo in Peru is called the City of Friendship (La ciudad de la amistad). As a food-loving nation, Peruvians will be wondering if the pope will be fed properly. Will he miss other regional recipes like rice and duck, not to mention King Kong, a local pastry indecently filled with caramel layers? Who knows? The important thing is for him to have friends around him. 

We have surmounted so much in Peru that we’ve come to say God is Peruvian. Well, Pope Leo XIV certainly is, and can even vote in our next national elections. For now though, we should let him be – free of the weight, and stench, of our mundanities. 

*Cárdenas is the head of the law faculty at the University of Lima.