The ceremony to honor Pope Leo XIV within the Peruvian metropolis the place he served as bishop for roughly eight years started on Saturday evening with a procession of altar boys and clergymen. It ended gone darkish with dancers in satan costumes swirling on the steps of his former church.
In between, there was a Mass, communion, many hymns, a pupil band, a refrain, fireworks, a musical efficiency by one of many clergymen — cheered like a rock star in a white gown — and chant after chant in regards to the “papa Chiclayano,” the pope from Chiclayo.
Chiclayo, in northern Peru, is the nation’s fifth-largest metropolis and was the pope’s residence from 2014 to 2023. Right here he’s identified for touring the area’s mountains and coast for lengthy hours by automotive, and infrequently on horseback, and for his forceful sermons in fluent Spanish.
To have fun him, a whole lot of individuals crammed the plush plaza in entrance of the town’s towering, yellowing cathedral. There have been nuns in white habits and church teams in matching vests. Flanking the cathedral doorways had been two big banners with footage of a smiling Pope Leo.
The swirling dancers — performing the “dance of the little devils of Túcume,” a close-by area — had been the capstone occasion. Fireworks shot out of a headdress worn by the principal satan, who fought an angel. A number of who had been current known as the dance a illustration of the battle between good and evil.
Within the non secular phase of the occasion, tambourines rattled as the brand new bishop of Chiclayo, Edinson Farfán, took to the microphone.
He recalled the pope as “a shepherd who smelled of the sheep” — a phrase used repeatedly in Chiclayo in current days to check with Pope Leo as a person who was near his congregation.
“Leo XIV has taught us to dwell the Gospel by closeness to the poor, to essentially the most weak, to those that undergo, the migrants, the refugees,” mentioned Bishop Farfán. “He’s a person deeply delicate to social justice.”
Chiclayo has hardly ever, if ever, had such a celeb connection, and in current days it has glittered with pleasure. New avenue indicators have gone up: “Welcome to Chiclayo, the town of Pope Leo XIV.” Eating places are providing Pope specials. (“Completely happy Mom’s Day!” learn the board outdoors the Trebol, a restaurant subsequent to the cathedral. “Immediately: Chiclayan goat, the favourite of Pope Leo XIV. WELCOME!!!”)
And by the weekend, the regional tourism board had organized a pope tour for the information media, that includes locations that figured prominently within the former bishop’s time in Chiclayo.
Chiclayo was non secular earlier than the pope arrived in 2014, and it nonetheless is. There are eight separate plenty in the primary cathedral on Sundays, and a whole lot of individuals attend every one, mentioned Father Jorge Millán, a priest in Chiclayo who’s near the pope. What the pope did was encourage individuals to take their religion past the church and take part in social work, he mentioned.
Throughout the ceremony on Saturday, Bishop Farfán mentioned that the pope, as bishop, had “accompanied the Holy Father Leo XIV on his pilgrimage in order that he could now accompany and information the common church. From Chiclayo, from Latin America — the continent of hope — to the remainder of the world!”
The group burst right into a cheer: “Papa! Amigo! Chiclayo está contigo!” (“Pope! Pal! Chiclayo stands with you!”)