Chiclayo

Ya.

Y, y bueno, pues este, no volví a ver esa persona en persona, o sea, físicamente, pero supe ya muchos años después, como hace diez, quince años, que había reaparecido y que estaba viviendo en Chiclayo, que tenía-

Ah, guau.

Pareja, tenía hijos, ¿no? Y entonces me ponía a pensar: «Oye, pero qué fácil, ¿no? O sea, esta persona, esta persona habrá, este, ¿cómo se llama? Eh, cagado gente, habrá matado gente».

And when he goes to Peru, he will be hitting four of the big cities, including the Cusco, which was the head of the Inca Empire.

And he will also be visiting the diocese where he was, Chiclayo.

And he will spend two nights there, I see.

So he'll spend three nights in Lima and two nights in Chiclayo.

It's going to be quite a marathon trip.

moving from one place to another in the space of 12, 13 days.

On the 11th of November, the Pope will travel to Peru, where he will remain until the 17th.

This will be the longest stage of the journey and includes stops in Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pocalpa.

The visit will have particular significance for a Pope who spent years carrying out missionary and pastoral work in the country.

The motto for this final stage of the trip is Let Us Open Our Hearts.

It was a very tragic story, but because I had some experience, some knowledge of it, So I actually took a trip to Peru in 2018.

And one of the meetings that I had was with Bishop Robert Prevost, because at the time he was, you know, Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, but he was also president of the National Safeguarding Commission for the Peruvian Episcopal Conference.

And so he was the one that was in charge of the bishop's own response to that case and was overseeing the bishop's investigation.

And he gave me an off-the-record meeting where we discussed that case.

And yes, well...

You arrived to Chiclayo, I was waiting there with the four-wheel drive vehicle with face shields because at those times we needed to, that was a requirement that you need to wear that.

Of course, it's a very remote place located in between Chiclayo and Mancora.

So, and in between it's a unique place in all the Peruvian coast and maybe in the world.

because it has some very unique geographically talking, very unique things like it's we have the nesting of the Andean condors there, which is something that you can only find there and maybe a few other spots, maybe in Patagonia, but very difficult to spot.

So they are not allowed to be there.

And it's a very remote area.

So fishing come from Lambayeque, from Chiclayo.

November, next November, we are preparing all different cities to welcome home to Pope.

He was like bishop of Chiclayo.

Mm-hmm.

It's a important city that hosted one of the oldest civilization in the northern Peru, um, the Moches.

The Moches.

But we have also museums and all this path that are, um, uh, also starting from Lima, then going to Chiclayo, uh, and different places where he lived in Peru.

Mm-hmm.

So the Pope will come with all his delegation.

He goes back to Chicago after he finishes his term as the Augustinian prior general.

He's in Chicago for just a year before he is named the Bishop of Chiclayo.

And he arrives there in 2014.

Now, the thing about becoming a bishop in Peru is that you have to be a citizen of Peru in order to serve as a bishop there.

He's back in his beloved Peru.

He's back there really in a leadership, but still considers himself very much a missionary.

loves Chiclayo.

In fact, I have no doubt that when the Holy Father visits Peru in November, you're going to see some of the best moments of his papacy play out in the town where he learned how to be a bishop, in the country where he learned how to be a priest, where his missionary heart expanded in such a distinct way.

In 1983, he began a long sojourn as a missionary in Peru, the cradle of liberation theology, where he would learn the lessons that would determine the social and political meaning of his ministry.

Appointments and the leadership of the Augustinian Order drew him away from Peru in 1999, before he returned in 2015 as a Peruvian citizen and Bishop of Chiclayo until 2023.

Pope Francis called him to Rome to be prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops that year.

He made the 68-year-old a cardinal.

It faced longstanding accusations of impure problems, physical, psychological, and spiritual abuse, plus financial issues.

Prevost as Bishop of Chiclayo and later Prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops, met victims, facilitated Vatican involvement, and helped advance the process that led Pope Francis to expel leaders, including Figari and Archbishop José Antonio Ugerin, and formally suppress the group in 2025.

Note the timetable, at the same time that they're hand-waving away the accusations against Luté.

Weird how that works out.

He has been at his side literally his entire career, and is now the personal secretary of the Roman pontiff.

Good gig if you can get it.

Edgar Rumicuna, personal secretary to Leo XIV, is a disciple of Father Lute, the priest from Chiclayo accused of harming prepubescent children aged 9 and 11.

This previously unpublished information does not come from a publication critical of the Pope.