Pope Leo returns to continent full of contradictions but rich in hope

By Andrea Tornielli

Pope Leo is returning home. He is returning to the continent where he spent more than twenty years of his life, first as a missionary and later as a bishop.

Peru, the final and longest leg of the Apostolic Journey that begins in the coming hours and will take him first to Uruguay and Argentina, is not the birthplace of Robert Francis Prevost, the first Pope born in the United States.

Yet it can be considered his second home, a homeland of the heart. This was clear from the very first words Pope Leo XIV spoke just minutes after his election.

Appearing on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, he greeted the crowds gathered in the square and the faithful following the event around the world, first in Italian – as befits the Bishop of Rome – and then in Spanish, offering a special greeting “to my dear Diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru, where a faithful people accompanied their bishop, shared their faith with him, and gave so much, so much, to continue being the faithful Church of Jesus Christ.”

In this sense, the stop in Peru represents a homecoming, an opportunity to remember a bond that has never been broken between a missionary bishop, one who has “the smell of the sheep,” and his people.

To what extent the Pope wanted to make this journey was also evident during his recent hospital stay at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. It will therefore be an immersion in memories, a homecoming that will bring renewed strength, despite the demands of a twelve-day trip involving thirteen flights and two helicopter journeys.

It would nevertheless be reductive to explain or interpret the journey solely in these terms. This is not a “patriotic” pilgrimage.

First of all, because Pope Leo will visit two other countries, each facing problems and circumstances that are both similar and different. Secondly, because the idea of a homecoming must not overshadow the messages the Pope is bringing to these lands.

Above all, he comes to strengthen the Christian people in their faith and to renew the Church’s evangelizing mission, a mission rooted in closeness, tenderness, sharing, support for the poorest, and a commitment to building a more just society together.

This is the same approach he demonstrated as a bishop, including during the Covid pandemic. At the time, as Apostolic Administrator of Callao, he organized a network of solidarity to distribute food, water, and medicine to residents and informal workers who, because of the restrictions, were confined to their homes without money or food. People still remember that assistance as an “answer from God” to their prayers.

In Uruguay, Pope Leo will encounter one of Latin America’s most “European” countries, with a long history of stability and democracy, but also a tradition of secularism that has not always been open to the positive public role of religions. A law on euthanasia was introduced there a year ago.

In Argentina, the birthplace of Pope Francis, who never returned to the country after his election in 2013, Leo will find a deeply polarized society facing major social challenges.

These are among the characteristics of a continent where poverty persists, and the gap between a small number of wealthy people and the many who are poor remains considerable.

Pope Leo XIV will speak about justice in the light of the Church’s social doctrine, not to set himself against one government or another – the Successor of Peter does not act as a politician – but to call for unity in the face of polarization and to encourage the building of a more just and inclusive society.

Such a society must take into account the needs of the most vulnerable and those living in the most remote peripheries, including the peoples of the Amazon, who feel abandoned but will receive a visit from the Pope during his stop in Pucallpa.

The central message Pope Leo is bringing to Latin America is well summed up in the three mottos chosen for the three stops: “I proclaim to you a great joy” for Uruguay; “Everyone is welcome. Go and proclaim” for Argentina; and “Let us open our hearts” for Peru.

These words are a call to faith and to the Church’s evangelizing mission, aimed at fostering unity and encounter.

In the coming days, particular emphasis will be placed on highlighting the hidden treasures of these countries: the many saints and blesseds who have inculturated Christ’s message in different contexts, and popular piety, which plays a fundamental role in the faith experience of Latin American peoples.