Health
Pope Leo XIV Urges Peace in Peru During South American Tour
The pontiff addressed rising violence and rural poverty in his former diocese as health officials monitored measles risks surrounding the multi-country visit.
By Headlinne · Compiled from reporting by Manila Bulletin, Al Jazeera and BBC
Pope Leo XIV urged an end to rising violence during an outdoor Mass in the Andean town of Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, Peru, on Saturday.
An estimated 20,000 people gathered in the remote mountain town of 6,000 residents to greet the pontiff on his 12-day South American tour.
The trip carries personal significance for the American-born pope, who served as bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023 and holds Peruvian citizenship.
"We feel threatened by the uncertainty of widespread violence and by the unspeakable suffering that continues to afflict so many of our brothers and sisters," said Pope Leo XIV during an address in Chiclayo.
Peru's homicide rate has nearly doubled over the past five years to 10.7 per 100,000 people, while reported extortion cases reached 26,734 in 2025.
President Keiko Fujimori, who took office in July, has declared states of emergency in Lima and in prisons while seeking closer military ties with the United States to fight drug cartels.
During his sermon in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, Leo also addressed rural economic hardship and declining birth rates emptying Andean villages.
The surrounding Cajamarca region is one of Peru's poorest, with over 40 percent of the population living in poverty and 729,000 native-born residents migrating elsewhere in the country, according to official figures cited by BBC News.
"It is like a very big dream that the Lord has allowed this servant to come here," said Pope Leo XIV while speaking at a local parish.
Meanwhile, health officials warned that mass crowds attending papal events across South America could accelerate a growing regional measles outbreak.
The Pan American Health Organization reported 57,666 confirmed measles cases in the Americas through October 2026, nearly five times the figure recorded during the same period in 2025.
"It's a very complex situation," said Daniel Salas Peraza, the head of immunization at the Pan American Health Organization.
The pope is scheduled to visit Cusco and the Amazon rainforest gateway of Pucallpa on Sunday before concluding his Latin American trip on Monday and returning to Rome.
Reporting from
- Manila BulletinBalanced
Huge crowds and low vaccination rates raise measles alarms as Pope Leo XIV visits South America
- Al JazeeraBalanced
Pope Leo urges end to violence in Peru during visit to remote Andes town
- BBC NewsBalanced
Pope Leo speaks of community 'suffering' on visit to remote Andes town
How this article was made: Headlinne wrote it with AI from the 3 reports listed above. Direct quotes are checked word for word against those reports, every number appears in at least one of them, and no other sentence is copied from one. Photos are from those reports and credited to them. Each report’s page on Headlinne links to the outlet’s original.