Peru Pope
Pope Leo XIV watches dancers at the end of a meeting with the Catholic community on the occasion of the closing of the Jubilee Year of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo at the Shrine of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo in Zana, Peru, on the ninth day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026.
As featured on
Pope Leo XIV has denounced the “suffering and humiliation” endured by African enslaved people as he made a tangible show of remorse in Peru following his historic apology for the Holy See’s own role in legitimizing the African slave trade in the Americas. The U.S.-born Leo, whose own family tree includes enslaved people and slave owners, delivered the remarks in the northern Peruvian city of Zaña, a UNESCO-recognized memorial site of slavery and a center of the Afro-Peruvian community today. In remarks to the community, Leo said Zaña “preserves the memory of generations of Africans who were torn from their homes and subjected to slavery.”
Pope Leo XIV has arrived in the Andean city of Cusco at the start of a day in which the plight of Indigenous peoples and the protection of the Amazon are taking center stage. Echoing Pope Francis, Leo is expected to emphasize Catholic teaching that links care for the most vulnerable with care for God’s creation. Cusco is the former capital of the Inca empire. Later he flies to the Amazonian city of Pucallpa, where protecting the rainforest from illegal mining and deforestation are central concerns. In Cusco, Leo praised the traditional expression of popular piety.
