On a Saturday in November, a helicopter set down in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, a small town of about six thousand people high in the northern Peruvian Andes, and the pope who once served that region as bishop returned to them as the head of the Church. Twenty thousand gathered to meet him, a crowd far larger than the village itself, as if the whole surrounding country had come to witness a homecoming. There, in the open air, he spoke of the grief of those who must leave their homes, of villages thinning as children are born less often, and of land whose riches are shared unevenly, naming the q
Pope Leo Speaks of Suffering and Migration on Return to Remote Andean Village
Over 40% of Cajamarca's population lives in poverty, and 729,000 people born there have migrated elsewhere in Peru, leaving villages with declining populations.
Villages emptying as people leave in search of a better future
Mark
A town of 6,000 hosting 20,000 people. What does that tell us?
Mimi
That this wasn't just any papal stop. He used to come here several times a year as bishop, and people called him 'Father Robert.' Now they were seeing him as Holy Father.
Luke
One caution: the 20,000 figure comes from the Vatican. It's an attributed estimate, not an independent count.
Mark
And his message was about migration and emptying villages.
Mimi
Yes, he spoke of people forced to leave in search of a better future, and of declining birth rates emptying villages. He also mentioned unequal distribution of the land's resources.
Mark
Do the numbers back that up locally?
Mimi
Cajamarca has Peru's highest poverty rate, over 40% by official data, and 729,000 people born there now live elsewhere in Peru.
Luke
Those figures describe the region, not Santa Cruz itself. The reporting doesn't give village-level migration numbers, and it doesn't say whether the pope proposed any specific remedy.
Mark
So the speech was pastoral rather than policy?
Mimi
From what's reported, it was a sermon: gratitude, encouragement not to lose heart, and a naming of the suffering.
Luke
Right, and that's all we can say. What he says in Cusco and the Amazon may add more.
O Pulso
- A helicopter lands in a remote Andean town where a crowd of twenty thousand swells around a village of six thousand.
- Villages are emptying as families leave for other parts of Peru and birth rates fall, leaving the community under visible strain.
- In a region where more than four in ten people live in poverty, the pope names migration and unequal resources as wounds that must be faced.
- The visit stirs deep emotion as residents greet their former bishop, now Holy Father, and the tour moves on to Cusco and the Amazon before a return to Rome.
On a Saturday in November, a helicopter set down in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, a small town of about six thousand people high in the northern Peruvian Andes, and the pope who once served that region as bishop returned to them as the head of the Church. Twenty thousand gathered to meet him, a crowd far larger than the village itself, as if the whole surrounding country had come to witness a homecoming. There, in the open air, he spoke of the grief of those who must leave their homes, of villages thinning as children are born less often, and of land whose riches are shared unevenly, naming the quiet wounds that the wider world rarely sees. His words were both lament and encouragement, a reminder that hope is kept alive by people who refuse to give up on the places they love.
A helicopter carrying Pope Leo XIV came down in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba on Saturday, and the people waiting greeted him with singing and cheering. The town sits high in the northern Andes and is home to about six thousand people. The Vatican says roughly twenty thousand came to see him.
This village lies within the Diocese of Chiclayo, where the pope served as bishop from 2015 to 2023 and visited again and again to tend its rural faithful. Now he rode through the crowd in a popemobile, waving to people who had traveled from across the region. At an outdoor Mass he spoke of those forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future, and of communities left under threat as birth rates fall and resources are unevenly shared. He urged the people never to lose heart.
The numbers behind his words are hard. Cajamarca, the region where the town lies, has Peru's highest poverty rate, above forty percent, and has lost more people to internal migration than any other region, with 729,000 people born there now living elsewhere.
The Rev. Kevin Noriega, ordained here in 2018, described enormous hope and emotion. Locals who once called him Father Robert now see him as the Holy Father. The pope, who has lived in Peru for long stretches since 1985 and became a Peruvian citizen in 2015, said it felt like a very large dream that he had been allowed to return. From here he travels to Cusco and the Amazon before flying back to Rome.
A helicopter carrying Pope Leo XIV came down in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba on Saturday, and the people waiting there greeted him with singing and cheering. The town sits in a remote stretch of the Andes in northern Peru. About 6,000 people live there. According to the Vatican, the visit drew a crowd of about 20,000.
The village lies within the Diocese of Chiclayo, where the pope served as bishop from 2015 to 2023. In those years he came to Santa Cruz several times a year to minister to its rural population. After landing, he toured in a popemobile and waved to people who had travelled from across the region to see him.
At an outdoor Mass, he spoke about the suffering of those forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future, and said that departure has left communities under threat. He also named declining birth rates that are emptying villages, and the unequal distribution of the land's resources. In his sermon he thanked those who had made the journey and urged them never to lose heart, whatever the difficulties of life.
The figures behind those words are stark. Santa Cruz is in the Cajamarca region, where over 40% of the population lives in poverty, the highest share in Peru according to official data. Cajamarca has also lost more people to internal migration than any other region: 729,000 people born there now live elsewhere in the country.
At a local parish on Saturday, the pope said he felt joy at being able to visit the small town again. "It is like a very big dream that the Lord has allowed this servant to come here," he said.
The Rev. Kevin Noriega, who was ordained in 2018 by the then-bishop, told Reuters the visit had brought "enormous hope and emotion" to Santa Cruz. He said people were eager to attend the Mass because after so much time they would see their bishop, whom they used to call "Father Robert," now as the Holy Father.
The ties run deep. The US-born pope lived in Peru for long periods between 1985 and 2023, and he became a Peruvian citizen in 2015. He was elected in May 2025, and Peru is the longest stop on his first tour of Latin America as leader of the Catholic church.
The tour continues. The pope is due to leave Chiclayo on Sunday for Cusco, and then travel on to a Peruvian sector of the Amazon rainforest. The tour of the region ends on Monday, when he returns to Rome.
Citações Notáveis
It is like a very big dream that the Lord has allowed this servant to come here.— Pope Leo XIV, at a local parish in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba
The visit has brought enormous hope and emotion to Santa Cruz.— Rev. Kevin Noriega, speaking to Reuters
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