ROME – With less than two months in office following his election to the papacy in May, Pope Leo XIV has been formally invited to visit Peru, his adoptive country, by the leadership of the Peruvian bishops’ conference.

In a June 30 statement published on the website of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference (CEP), the bishops said a delegation from Peru had attended the June 29 celebration of Saints Peter and Paul at the Vatican, a major feast day celebrating the patrons of Rome.

That day also marks the feast on which the pope traditionally bestows the pallium, a woolen band that the heads of metropolitan archdioceses wear around their shoulders and over their Mass vestments during liturgical celebrations.

The pallium is a symbol of an archbishop’s unity with the pope and his authority and responsibility to care for the flock entrusted to him. The palliums are traditionally knit by a community of nuns, and are blessed by the pope and bestowed on new metropolitan archbishops during a June 29 liturgy at the Vatican.

Pope Francis changed this tradition, having the nuncio, or Vatican envoy, to a country bestow the pallium in the archbishop’s diocese after blessing them and bestowing them during the Vatican ceremony, in order to allow a stronger participation of local faithful.

Pope Leo XIV, however, has changed that practice, going back to the tradition of bestowing the palliums himself during the June 29 Mass in Rome.

During Sunday’s Mass, one of the new metropolitan archbishops who got the pallium from Pope Leo was Archbishop Alfredo Vizcarra of Trujillo, Peru, who took over leadership of the metropolitan archdiocese from the former president of CEP, Bishop Miguel Cabrejos, following his retirement.

A delegation of 15 prelates from Peru attended the Mass, including some who were also in town for the June 23-27 Jubilee of seminarians, bishops and priests.

According to CEP’s statement, after Sunday’s Mass the delegation, led by Bishop Carlos García Camader of Lurín, current president of CEP, had a meeting with the pope Monday, June 30, at the Vatican, during which they extended an official invitation for Pope Leo to visit Peru.

In the letter, García Camader expressed, on behalf of all the bishops and the entire Peruvian people, “his profound affection and closeness to the Holy Father, thanking him for holding a special place in his heart for Peru, a country where he served pastorally for many years before being elected Successor of Peter,” the statement said.

“Your presence will renew the hope of our people, strengthen the faith of our communities, and it will be a beautiful sign of communion with the universal Church,” the letter said, according to the CEP statement.

Among the members of the delegation present for the meeting include: Bishop Luis Alberto Barrera of Callao and second vice president of CEP; Bishop Antonio Santarsiero of Huacho and secretary general of CEP; Bishop Alfredo Vizcarra of Trujillo; Bishop Pedro Bustamante of Huánuco; Bishop Marco Antonio Cortez of Tacna and Moquegua; Bishop César Augusto Huerta of Sicuani; Bishop Ricardo García, prelate of Yauyos; Bishop Lizardo Estrada, auxiliary of Cuzco and secretary general of CELAM; Bishop Raúl Chau, auxiliary of Arequipa; Bishop Juan Carlos Asqui, auxiliary bishop of Tacna and Moquegua; and Father Guillermo Inca, adjunct secretary general of CEP.

Also present was Cardinal Pedro Jimeno Barreto, archbishop emeritus of Huancayo and president of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA).

Pope Leo has met with several Peruvian prelates since his election May 8, and has voiced his desire to visit Peru, though it is unknown when a full apostolic visit might occur.

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte was present for Pope Leo’s May 18 inauguration Mass in St. Peter’s Square, and a delegation from the Peruvian National Registry of Identification and Civil Status came to the Vatican at the end of May to assist the pope in updating the information on his Peruvian National Identity document following his election, as he maintains his Peruvian citizenship after receiving it in 2015 following his appointment as bishop of Chiclayo.

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