STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
People in Peru are also celebrating since Robert Francis Prevost spent many years there. NPR's Carrie Kahn begins this story with a revealing moment in the pope's opening speech.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Standing on the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square, the new Pope Leo XIV switched from Italian to Spanish...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
POPE LEO XIV: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: ...To give a shout out to folks back home in Peru.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
LEO XIV: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: "In Chiclayo, Peru, where its faithful people have always accompanied me," he said, smiling broadly. Robert Francis Prevost spent more than two decades in Peru, first as a missionary, a parish priest and ultimately archbishop of Chiclayo in Peru's Northwest. In 2015, he became a naturalized Peruvian citizen. Twenty-eight-year-old Ximena Valdivia is part of Chiclayo's youth ministry and knew him well.
XIMENA VALDIVIA: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: "I haven't been able to stop smiling," she says. "God is great to have given us such a humble man as pope."
VALDIVIA: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: "Monsenor was always open to listening to us," she says. She says he would greet everyone and always helped out the youth and poor. Prevost was only recently called to Rome in 2023 by Pope Francis. The two shared many values, including a commitment for social justice. That same year, Prevost publicly urged Peru's leaders to respect democracy during turbulent antigovernment protests. Peruvians today are united, however, claiming Pope Leo is theirs and posting lots of memes, including pictures of the new head of the Catholic Church wearing the national soccer team's jersey, eating Peru's national dish, ceviche, and drinking an Inca Kola.
Carrie Kahn, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF EMAHOY TSEGE MARIAM GEBRU'S "HOMESICKNESS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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