Pope Leo XIV arrived in Peru on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 11, 2026, on the final leg of the South American tour that had already taken him to Uruguay and Argentina. The papal plane left Buenos Aires after midday and touched down at Grupo Aéreo N.° 8, the air base in Callao, at around 5:30 p.m. local time, later than originally scheduled.
It is Leo XIV's first visit to Peru since his election in May 2025, and it carries a personal weight no other stop on the tour had: before becoming a cardinal, Robert Prevost served as bishop of Chiclayo, in northern Peru, and holds Peruvian citizenship.
A route built for the crowds
From Callao, the motorcade left in a closed vehicle along the Faucett, La Marina and Brasil avenues. The pope switched to the popemobile once inside Lima, on the stretch before the historic centre — his first direct contact with the faithful waiting in the street.
The route continued along the Brasil, Garcilaso de la Vega and Tacna avenues and along Jirón Conde de Superunda to the Plaza Mayor. The Cancillería (Peru's foreign ministry) explained in September, when it announced the transport arrangements, that the routes were designed to bring the pope close to the public, and that two popemobiles had been built to cover his movements inside the country.
Ceremony at the Palacio de Gobierno
The official welcome ceremony was scheduled at the Palacio de Gobierno (the seat of Peru's government) at around 6:15 p.m., followed by a protocol meeting with President Keiko Fujimori. Later, at 7:45 p.m., the pope was due to meet officials, civil society representatives and the accredited diplomatic corps at the Gran Teatro Nacional, in the San Borja district, where he was to give a speech. He was to spend the night at the Apostolic Nunciature in Jesús María.
The president will miss the closing days
Fujimori will not be there for the end of the visit. She asked the Senate for permission to travel to China and Japan between November 15 and 21, a request Congress debated the same Wednesday. The head of the Consejo de Ministros (Peru's cabinet chief), Luis Galarreta, said the dates were set around a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 17, and called the trip "fundamental".
Six days, four cities
The apostolic visit runs through November 16. According to the itinerary reported by the Peruvian press, it covers Lima, Chiclayo, Pucallpa and Cusco. The Chiclayo stop is the one drawing the most local anticipation: that is where Prevost served as bishop before moving to Rome.
The Peruvian leg closes a tour that began in Paysandú, Uruguay, and continued through Argentina, where the pope celebrated mass in Buenos Aires and Córdoba, visited the Devoto prison — meeting 75 inmates and some of their relatives — and finished with a mass at the Luján basilica.
With information from Infobae, El Comercio, TV Perú and Canal 12.
