Pope Leo XIV in Lima: Peru needs a Church that 'builds bridges where others raise walls' and owns its failures

Pope Leo XIV in Lima: Peru needs a Church that 'builds bridges where others raise walls' and owns its failures.

Pope Leo XIV told Peru's bishops, priests, religious and lay leaders on Thursday that the country needs a Church able to build bridges, heal divisions and humbly ask forgiveness for the harm it has caused, as he opened his first full day in the nation where he served for years as a missionary, according to Vatican News.

Meeting the bishops in the chapel of the Archbishop's Palace in Lima, Leo urged them to be shepherds who combine "doctrinal fidelity with pastoral closeness." "Do not stop walking with the people," he said, according to Peru's state news agency Andina. He said Peru needs pastors able to listen to the questions of the times, support families and young people, defend life and human dignity, and stand with those living in poverty, and that bishops must help heal the wounds that divide Peruvian society.

The pope also addressed abuse by clergy and in church settings, saying it had "caused us so much pain." The Church, he said, must respond "with truth, justice, forgiveness, reparation" and a firmer commitment to preventing abuse and protecting the vulnerable, Andina reported.

Leo then led Daytime Prayer in the Cathedral Basilica of Lima with priests, men and women religious, seminarians, synodal teams and pastoral councils. Recalling that he had first been sent to Peru "to promote peace through justice, with particular concern for the weakest," he said he had returned to encourage them in spreading the Gospel. Peru needs a Church "capable of building bridges where others raise walls," ready to acknowledge "its own infidelities," he said, and peace must first be nourished "before God, within ourselves, and among those dear to us."

The Lima visit is the final leg of the pope's Latin American journey, which earlier took him to Uruguay and Argentina. Thursday's schedule also included an address on the challenges and hopes of the Peruvian people in the plaza outside the cathedral and an evening prayer vigil with young people and university students at the National Stadium. Focus Plus Media will continue to cover the visit.