Pope Leo Calls Peru His 'Homeland' as Final South America Leg Begins in Lima

Pope Leo XIV stepped off his charter plane in Lima on Wednesday smiling broadly, and told Peru it was his homeland. He was back in the country that, by his own account, taught him how to be a pastor, and the welcome was a nationwide celebration for the man many there still call "Padre Robert."

The Vatican estimated that about 3 million people lined the miles-long motorcade route into the city, waving Peruvian and Holy See flags. Some broke through tight security to run behind the car carrying him to the presidential palace. There he met privately with President Keiko Fujimori. At the formal welcome in the palace courtyard, he sang the Peruvian national anthem with Fujimori and a children's choir.

In his first remarks to Fujimori and government officials, the Chicago-born pontiff said the Peruvian citizenship he took in 2015 sealed a bond that began long before. He credited Peruvians with forming him as a pastor by sharing their lives, joys and struggles. "Today I understand how much of this land remains with me and how much of my own story also belongs to you," he said, and added that he was "also returning to my homeland." The line drew applause.

The stop is the last of a three-nation South American tour and its emotional high point. Leo spent more than two decades in Peru as a missionary priest and later as a bishop, and he has said it was here that he learned what it means to be a shepherd. As a dual U.S. and Peruvian citizen, he is the first pope from either country. Gustavo Morello, a sociologist at Boston College and author of "Lived Religion in Latin America," called Peru "the crown of the trip," the homecoming of the first Peruvian pope regardless of where he was born.

The enthusiasm showed in small ways. A 46-foot statue of the pope was unveiled in the port of El Callao, and Lima baristas were serving cappuccinos decorated with his image. Evelina Cruz, 85, waited with a pope plush doll her niece made and said Peruvians love him because he worked here and knows their sufferings. Zuly Castillo, who was his secretary when he was bishop of Chiclayo, said her heart was so excited it made her want to cry with joy. Hundreds gathered in front of the palace with raised hands, singing "Long live Christ!" behind a Catholic choir. Chiclayo, which he reaches Friday, is covered in murals, T-shirts, caps and bobblehead dolls of him.

The itinerary reaches into his old territory. He will celebrate Mass at the sanctuary of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo in Zaña, a hub of Afro-Peruvian culture where he often went to pray to the saint. In Pucallpa, in the Amazon, he will honor Indigenous peoples at Mass; illegal gold mining and coca cultivation, the raw material for cocaine, are affecting those communities. A speaker identified as Pérez said the Amazon is where the environmental crisis, the exclusion of Indigenous peoples, violence and extreme poverty intersect. In Cusco, he will meet popular groups of faithful and representatives of local traditions, and celebrate Mass in the main square where Túpac Amaru II was killed in 1781 after the largest colonial-era rebellion against Spain.

The trip comes about a month after surgery in Italy to remove a nodular lesion from his right lung, which confirmed lung cancer. The Vatican said the 71-year-old was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma and the operation was successful. Doctors cleared him to travel two weeks after surgery. In Uruguay last weekend he drew on that experience to argue for universal healthcare, saying that ensuring access regardless of resources is a duty facing every society. At the start of the trip, it was also reported that he had voted by mail in the U.S. midterms from Chicago, the first sitting pope to vote in a U.S. election.

Because he knows Peru so well, his speeches will be closely watched, especially Thursday's address from the square in front of Lima's cathedral on the challenges and hopes of the Peruvian people.