Pope Leo received an emotional welcome from an estimated three million people in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday, November 11, as he returned to the South American country where he spent two decades as a missionary and later served as a bishop.

The pontiff described Peru as his homeland, saying his years in the country had left a lasting connection that remained central to his personal story.

Also read: US envoys meet Putin in fresh Ukraine peace push

Crowds lined the streets of the capital, waving flags and balloons while chanting “Leo, Leo, Leo” as the Pope travelled through the city in an open-air popemobile.

The welcome marked the largest gathering of Leo’s papacy so far, according to a Vatican statement citing local officials.

It surpassed the estimated 2.5 million people who attended an outdoor Mass he celebrated in Buenos Aires earlier in the week.

Speaking shortly after his arrival at Lima’s Gran Teatro Nacional, Leo told President Keiko Fujimori that the return visit held special meaning for him.

He recalled the friendships he had formed during his 20 years in Peru and mentioned his affection for the country’s national dish, ceviche.

“Today I understand how much of this land remains with me and how much of my own story also belongs to you,” he said.

“I can tell you, with deep gratitude, that I am returning to my homeland.”

Originally from Chicago, Leo is visiting Peru on the final and most personal leg of a 12-day South American tour that has also taken him to Uruguay and Argentina.

His six-day stay in Peru is expected to include a return to Chiclayo, where he served as bishop from 2015 to 2023.

The visit is expected to bring emotional reunions with people he knew during his years in the country.

The scale of the welcome reflected the enthusiasm surrounding his return.

Residents gathered along streets for miles, while Lima’s main plaza filled with people wearing Pope-themed shirts and waving flags.

Camila Cerazo, 27, who attended with her toddler, husband and relatives, said she hoped her son would one day remember the excitement surrounding the Pope’s arrival.

She said Peruvians had developed a stronger sense of identification with Leo after learning that he held Peruvian nationality.

The country had prepared extensively for the visit.

A 14-metre statue depicting the Pope with outstretched arms was erected in a seaside park in Callao, while traders in Lima stocked Pope-themed clothing and souvenirs.

Inmates at the country’s largest women’s prison also made velvet dolls bearing his likeness.

Beyond the celebrations, Leo used his first official engagement in Peru to address the country’s political divisions and troubled history.

In his speech to Fujimori, he called for sensitivity and justice in dealing with past events, urging Peruvians to rebuild trust and strengthen democratic institutions.

“Past events deserve to be treated with justice and sensitivity, leaving room for harmony to grow and for differences to be addressed with respect,” he said.

Without directly referring to Peru’s internal conflict, which lasted from around 1980 to 2000, the Pope acknowledged that the country had endured difficult periods that tested its people.

He urged citizens to embrace honesty, integrity and dialogue, describing those values as essential to sustaining public confidence and democratic institutions.

Fujimori, who narrowly won the presidential election earlier in the year, described the visit as an opportunity for Peru to pursue its unfinished task of national reconciliation.

The Pope’s remarks carried particular significance because of the contested legacy of her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000.

Alberto Fujimori spent several years in prison after leaving office following convictions for human rights abuses.

He was pardoned in 2017 and died in 2024.

At the time of the pardon, Leo, then known as Bishop Robert Prevost, criticised the decision, saying the former president should personally seek forgiveness from victims if Peru was to achieve genuine reconciliation.

Keiko Fujimori relied heavily on her father’s political legacy during her presidential campaign, promising tough security measures in response to rising crime.

Relations between her father’s government and sections of the Catholic Church were frequently strained, particularly over human rights concerns during the state’s campaign against the Maoist Shining Path insurgency.

Church figures also opposed a 1995 amnesty for members of the security forces accused of human rights abuses.

Ahead of the Pope’s visit, Martin Cassinelli, an analyst at the Atlantic Council, said calls to examine Peru’s past could create tension with the current Fujimori administration.

Leo’s arrival in Peru followed a series of large gatherings during the earlier stages of his South American tour.

He ended the Argentina leg on Wednesday with an outdoor Mass attended by an estimated two million people outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Luján, one of the country’s most important Catholic devotional sites.

During his three-day visit to Argentina, the Pope also visited a major penitentiary, where he embraced inmates and urged prison officials to treat detainees humanely.

He also called for greater consideration of disadvantaged people amid criticism from the Catholic Church over President Javier Milei’s austerity policies and their impact on poorer communities.

Milei, who has previously clashed verbally with Leo’s Argentine predecessor, Pope Francis, appeared emotional as he bade farewell to the pontiff at the airport.

The South American tour began less than a month after Leo underwent lung cancer surgery.

He has appeared in good form during the trip, delivering lengthy speeches in a firm and clear voice.

Also read: US envoys meet Putin in fresh Ukraine peace push

His return to Peru has combined a historic public welcome with calls for national healing, placing reconciliation and democratic trust at the centre of his engagements with the country’s political leadership.