(PERU)
Catholic News Service - USCCB [Washington DC]
November 14, 2026
By Josephine Peterson
In the last decade, Peru has had nine presidents and is entering a new political chapter under President Keiko Fujimori
Pope Leo XIV returned to Peru to the embrace of millions who welcomed him as one of their own, bringing a message of hope and solidarity to a country where political instability and distrust in government have left many citizens feeling unheard.
For Christian Michilot, a Catholic from Lima who attended the pope’s Nov. 12 prayer vigil, Pope Leo’s homecoming offered something that politicians have struggled to provide.
“The government will always have its different sides, its positives and negatives, its factions, and I think that in that struggle they don’t realize what really matters, which is the people,” Michilot told Catholic News Service.
“The important thing about the Catholic Church is that it gives us, I would say, the virtue of being able to hope for something beyond just the response of politicians,” he said in Lima’s National Stadium.
In the last decade, Peru has had nine presidents and is entering a new political chapter under President Keiko Fujimori, but the institutions responsible for addressing crime, poverty, political divisions and environmental emergencies continue to face profound public distrust.
According to the international think tank Bertelsmann Stiftung, 63% of Peruvians expressed confidence in the Catholic Church, compared with 16% in the government and court system.
In October 2026, a Latinobarómetro survey found that 90% of Peruvians said they did not feel represented by Congress.
Omar Coronel, a political scientist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, said the country’s political instability reflects something deeper than the repeated turnover of presidents.
“It’s not just a crisis, but rather a collapse of representation,” he told CNS by phone Nov. 12.
Coronel said the crisis dates back to the 1990s and has created a persistent sense of powerlessness among ordinary Peruvians.
“Peruvians feel that no matter what we do, it will have little or no political impact,” he said.
This feeling of disconnection has intensified since 2022, Coronel said, when the government’s response to nationwide protests left dozens dead and deepened public fears about the consequences of challenging political authorities.
Yet, he said the Catholic Church remains one of the institutions Peruvians distrust the least, alongside the armed forces, giving religious leaders an unusual role in mediating social and political conflicts.
“As a consequence of this trust, the Catholic Church ends up being an important actor in conflict resolution,” he said. “It has played that role significantly over the last 25 years of democracy.”
The pope returned to a country where he personally witnessed the consequences of natural disasters, political divisions and poverty, and where the Church has long been involved in providing humanitarian assistance and advocating for communities that feel neglected by the state.
An estimated three million people lined the streets along his route to greet him, waving Peruvian and Holy See flags and chanting for the arrival of one of their most famous citizens; then-Bishop Robert F. Prevost was required by a joint Peru-Vatican agreement to become a naturalized citizen before he was named bishop of Chiclayo.
In a Nov. 11 address to Peruvian authorities and President Fujimori, Pope Leo urged public officials to listen to citizens, cultivate honesty and protect communities from violence and natural disasters.
“Those who turn to public institutions hope to be heard, to understand the decisions that affect them, and to find someone they can turn to with confidence,” he said.
Christian Quispe, a Lima resident attending the Nov. 12 vigil, said he interpreted the pope’s remarks as a criticism of public institutions.
“I think the government doesn’t listen,” Quispe said.
For Estefany Guevara, a young Peruvian Catholic at the vigil, the country’s persistent inequality, economic hardship and violence against public transportation workers are evidence of that disconnect.
Asked whether the government listens to people like her, Guevara answered simply: “No.”
She pointed to families struggling to make ends meet and the growing problem of extortion, which has threatened transportation workers and other Peruvians, as criminal networks extract regular payoffs with near-total impunity.
Earlier that day, during a meeting with the pope in Lima’s Plaza de Armas, Yenny Sotomayor, who leads a community kitchen in the impoverished Chorrillos district, described to the pope the daily struggles of families living without running water, electricity, gas or sewerage.
Residents must climb 307 steps to reach their homes, she said, because vehicles cannot reach the neighborhood. Women cook with firewood and organize human chains to carry donated supplies up the hillside.
Guevara said Catholic organizations have helped respond to those needs. During Holy Week, she said, the archdiocese’s youth ministry and other organizations collect food for community kitchens.
Although she acknowledged that government institutions also provide assistance, Guevara said she hoped Pope Leo would continue advocating for those whose concerns are overlooked.
“We trust that, through his words, he can intervene against things that we sometimes don’t consider just,” she said. “A people really need to be heard. And he, more than anyone, can speak on our behalf.”
For Ernesto Zárate Calderón, the difference between political institutions and the Catholic Church is personal.
He said the government has failed to adequately address crime, poverty and the lack of educational and employment opportunities for young people. Although he believes some politicians genuinely want to serve the public, he hopes Pope Leo’s visit will encourage others to take their responsibilities more seriously.
By contrast, Zárate Calderón said he has repeatedly found support within his parish community.
“I’ve experienced feeling welcomed, listened to and, above all, loved in the Catholic Church,” he told CNS at the Nov. 12 vigil. “They’ve been sincere with me, they’ve been transparent, and they haven’t let me down up to this point.”
The Church’s role in Peru, however, has not been limited to providing material assistance or spiritual comfort.
Coronel said Catholic leaders have historically responded to government failures in two ways: helping meet immediate needs and, in some cases, supporting communities demanding political and institutional change.
“Historically, the Catholic Church has played a kind of two-sided role: trying to meet some needs that the state doesn’t meet, but in certain places, depending on the orientation of the bishops, also accompanying social demands,” he said.
He pointed to Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno’s involvement in campaigns against mining-related contamination in La Oroya, as well as the participation of bishops and priests in environmental and Indigenous rights movements in Peru’s Amazon region.
In political conflicts, he said, the presence of a trusted priest or bishop can help bring opposing parties to the negotiating table.
But Coronel emphasized that the Church does not always speak with one voice, and its involvement varies significantly by region and individual bishop.
“Some bishops have much more prestige, much more credibility, and others less,” he said.
One example is in 2017, when then-Bishop Prevost publicly challenged former President Alberto Fujimori over his responsibility for human rights abuses.
Fujimori, the father of Peru’s current president, governed the country from 1990 to 2000. His presidency included the dissolution of Congress in 1992 and a campaign against insurgent groups during which security forces committed serious human rights abuses.
In 2009, Fujimori was convicted for his role in the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta killings and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
When Fujimori received a controversial presidential pardon in December 2017, Bishop Prevost, then bishop of Chiclayo, publicly called on him to personally seek forgiveness from the victims of injustices committed under his government, according to the Peruvian newspaper La República.
Coronel said Bishop Prevost’s statement was particularly significant because the Catholic Church’s public image had long been associated with Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, the former archbishop of Lima, who maintained close ties with Alberto Fujimori.
“It was very important, I think, above all, in presenting a more nuanced image of the Church,” Coronel said. “Prevost was an actor who demonstrated that not everyone in the Church thought like Cardinal Cipriani.”
Coronel said the contrasting positions reflected longstanding differences within the Peruvian Church over its relationship with political power and its responsibility to advocate for victims of injustice.
During a Nov. 12 meeting with Peruvian bishops at the chapel of the archbishop’s residence in Lima, Pope Leo urged Church leaders to remain close to their communities, particularly people whose voices often go unheard because of geographical isolation or social vulnerability.
The pope described the responsibility of a bishop to get to know his diocese by entering people’s homes, accompanying the sick, meeting young people and reaching out to neglected communities.
“In this way, you will be able to accompany families, support young people, defend the life and dignity of every person, promote justice and commit to the care of creation, helping in a particular way those who suffer from poverty, exclusion, corruption, violence and a lack of opportunities,” Pope Leo said.
Many have expressed that they feel the pope did this very work as bishop of Chiclayo in northern Peru, where residents remain exposed to severe flooding.
In 2017, large floods struck the region, prompting Bishop Prevost to travel through affected communities in knee-high rubber boots, bringing food and other supplies to families whose homes and livelihoods had been damaged.
Nearly a decade later, experts warn that inadequate infrastructure and unfinished flood-protection projects continue to leave communities vulnerable.
Marina Farías, a research professor at the Institute of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Sanitary Engineering at the University of Piura, explained that the relatively flat coastal terrain makes it difficult for excess rainwater to drain naturally, creating areas of stagnant water known as “urban basins.”
As a result, many communities depend on pumping systems to move water into nearby rivers or the ocean.
Farías said the country’s existing infrastructure is insufficient to protect the population if the region experiences the intense rainfall associated with El Niño.
“So, we are facing a situation in which it is already apparent, it is foreseeable, that we will not be able to respond adequately if the expected rains ultimately occur,” she told journalists Oct. 6 during a video conference.
Reuters reported shortly before the pope’s arrival that the government had declared a two-month state of emergency in 72% of Peru’s districts because of the imminent threat of intense rainfall linked to El Niño. Flooding had already damaged homes, and forecasters had warned that new rainfall records were possible.
Corruption investigations involving government infrastructure projects have also complicated Peru’s efforts to improve public services and disaster preparedness.
Germán Vega, a research professor in the economics department at the University of Piura, said four northern regional governments had a combined budget of approximately $24 billion over the last decade, of which they spent 84%.
“But the money that was spent did not actually address basic needs,” Vega said during an Oct. 6 video conference.
As an example, he pointed to Peru’s educational infrastructure gap, a measure of the difference between existing facilities and what is needed.
Despite substantial public spending, he said, that gap increased by 40% during the period.
“In other words, the gap did not close. It actually increased despite spending a tremendous amount of money,” he said.
For Coronel, the Catholic Church’s ability to respond to such challenges has historically depended on its willingness to work alongside communities rather than simply provide assistance from a distance.
He noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Catholic organizations helped vulnerable Peruvians and supported efforts to provide medical oxygen, working with other institutions and civil society organizations. Then-Bishop Prevost, in fact, helped establish a facility providing oxygen during the pandemic.
The Church’s involvement, Coronel said, does not necessarily replace the role of the state, but can complement government efforts during emergencies.
In some regions, Catholic priests and bishops have also helped communities organize around land rights, environmental protection and demands for government accountability.
But that perspective is not shared throughout the country.
“There are tensions between the hierarchy and grassroots priests,” Coronel said, pointing to the 2022-2023 protests, when some bishops were initially cautious in their responses to the demonstrations while local priests more actively supported protesters.
“The grassroots priests had a very active role in supporting the protesters,” he said. “They became a refuge, a refuge for these protesters during the demonstrations.”
Susana Mosquera, dean of the Faculty of Law and director of the Institute for Human Rights and Democracy at the University of Piura, said Peru has undergone rapid social transformations in recent decades, including the influx of Venezuelan migrants, environmental pressures and conflicts related to extractive industries.
These challenges have unfolded against a backdrop of persistent political disillusionment.
Yet Mosquera said the pope’s visit and his emphasis on charity, justice and solidarity with marginalized communities could encourage renewed efforts to address the country’s inequalities.
Coronel said many Peruvians are looking for a pope willing to speak plainly about the country’s problems rather than offer general appeals for harmony.
“It’s important to speak not only in terms of peace, but in terms of justice,” he said. “Reconciliation comes through justice.”
In his final event in Lima before traveling to northern Peru, where his pastoral work began, Pope Leo told those gathered at the National Stadium during a Nov. 12 prayer vigil that even amid loneliness, loss and uncertainty, faith can provide a path forward.
“You do not need to have your entire future worked out before you answer him,” he told the crowd. “Take the step you can take today. Trust in his love and allow him to accompany you. Often, the Lord shows us the way as we travel along it.”
For Quispe, the pope’s homecoming offered Peruvians a sense of belonging in a country where so many feel their concerns have been overlooked.
“He gives all of Peru a sense of belonging,” Quispe said. “It moves me that all of Peru collectively feels the message of peace and hope that he brings. In everyday life, so many things happen; sometimes the economy is doing badly, there’s violence, extortion, but he’s a light that I think moves all of us.”