Overview
- The pope arrived in Chiclayo and landed at the Teniente Coronel Pedro Ruiz Gallo air base of the Peruvian Air Force, where local authorities and cultural groups formally received him.
- He presided over a large mass at the Pampas de Pimentel that organizers say drew as many as about one million faithful, with pilgrims coming from other regions and abroad.
- The pope, who arrived Friday, watched a traditional marinera performance visibly moved and greeted local officials before continuing to the mass site.
- Planned local engagements include a visit to the San Óscar Arnulfo Romero parish in a poor neighborhood that he helped finance through U.S. donors and a meeting at the Universidad Católica Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo.
- The stop in Chiclayo is the opening of a wider Peru tour that continues to Cusco and Pucallpa before returning to Lima and highlights his eight years as the city's former bishop and his 2015 adoption of Peruvian nationality.