The emotional mass of Leo XIV on his return to Chiclayo: "It is a blessing for me"

On his visit to Peru, Pope Leo XIV returned this Friday to his beloved Chiclayo, where he was bishop. There he thanked the faithful for their support and prayers during the homily at the ceremony held in Pampas de Pimentel. In his first words after arriving in the northern region, he expressed his joy at returning to the place where he spent much of his life.

“What a joy to return to Chiclayo. It is a blessing for me to be with you again,” said the Holy Father. He also thanked the love, support and prayers received, particularly those dedicated to his health “in these moments of trial that with God’s help (he is) overcoming.”

He immediately explained that remembering the population inspired a prayer of thanksgiving, because they are all “blessings” that have been and are for his life and for his episcopal ministry. “I have them very present in my prayers,” he stated, and asked that they continue praying for him so that Jesus Christ grants him the grace to continue confirming his brothers in the faith.

Leo XIV prayed before the image of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the patron saint of the Diocese of Chiclayo. — EFE/Paolo Aguilar

Evangelization, the task of all the baptized

Throughout the homily, Leo XIV recalled that all Christians, regardless of their position in the clergy, and even lay people, must play a role in evangelization. He stressed that no baptized person can be indifferent to this task.

He also recognized the challenges of spreading the word of God in the 21st century. He asked himself how to carry out the mission and responded that the key is the testimony of an authentically Christian and coherent life, with Jesus Christ at the center of both the proclamation and the existence. He added that coherence should not be thought of as the fruit of one’s own will, but as a grace that must be implored from the Lord.

Pope Leo XIV presiding over the mass this Friday in Chiclayo. — EFE/VATICAN MEDIA / HANDOUT

How can we evangelize in the 21st century, according to Leo XIV?

According to the pontiff, through the witness of an authentically Christian and coherent life, putting Jesus Christ at the center of the proclamation and of existence. He explained that coherence is not only the fruit of one’s own will, but a grace that must be asked of the Lord.

In turn, he called to act with love and charity, but always with truth. He argued that “without truth, love falls into mere sentimentality and truth without love becomes rigid and cold.”

With what message did you close the homily?

With a request to the faithful throughout the country, he invited them, from this first celebration of the reunion, to assume in Chiclayo and throughout Peru the commitment to share the hope of Jesus Christ and to “overflow” the Gospel in hamlets, towns and cities. He also asked that the intercession of “our Lord of evangelization” help in the task of announcing the good news to all creation.