Crux

ROME – A group of Peruvian expats in Italy will celebrate Pope Leo XIV’s 70th birthday this weekend in true local fashion, bringing a beloved popular devotion in Chiclayo to the pope’s front door.

Every year during his time as bishop of Chiclayo from 2015-2023, then-Bishop Robert Prevost would visit the shrine of Jesús Nazareno Cautivo, or “Jesus Nazarine, Captive” in the small northern town of Monsefú, in the Diocese of Chiclayo, to celebrate its feast with locals.

The statue, depicting a bloodied and imprisoned Jesus dressed in an elegant robe but bound with chains and wearing a crown of thorns, is a beloved popular devotion for locals, and its Sept. 14 feast day coincides with the birthday of Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV.

Bishop Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, celebrates Mass at the Shrine of Jesus Nazareno Cautivo in Monsefu, Chiclayo. (Credit: Courtesy of Harry Gordillo).

Carlos Llontop Puicón, a Peruvian from the small town of Monsefú, in Chiclayo, told Crux that this year, since the pope cannot go to the shrine to celebrate jointly his birthday and the feast of “el Cautivo,” they will bring the devotion to him.

This Sunday, Sept. 14, Puicón said, some 2-300 Peruvians, including a group of around 15-20 from Monsefú, will make “a small pilgrimage walk” from the Piazza Pia, at the beginning of the Via Conciliazione leading up to St. Peter’s Basilica, into the square ahead of the pope’s Sunday Angelus address.

“Since our image is small, the Captive Lord is carried in our arms,” rather than placed on a large platform and carried on shoulders, he said, saying the small image “will be passed around among the faithful who are going to make the pilgrimage.”

Once they arrive in the square, Puicón said the group will unveil a large, handmade banner that says, “Happy birthday, Pope Leo, Monsefú, Chiclayo awaits you!” in anticipation of a papal visit, which Puicón said he expects will happen soon.

Participants will dress in traditional clothing in northern Peru, and the pilgrimage up to St. Peter’s Square will also be displayed live on maxi-screens in Monsefú, so locals can follow along and celebrate with their former pastor, and now pope.

Puicón said he himself was present on several occasions when then-Bishop Prevost celebrated Mass at the Monsefú shrine and led the annual Sept. 14 pilgrimage.

Despite now living abroad, Puicón maintains close ties to his Peruvian roots, and belongs to a small association, Jesús Nazareno Cautivo, a confraternity of Peruvian Catholics in Italy.

He is also part of another association dedicated to the popular Peruvian devotion, Our Lord of the Miracles, which is celebrated annually in Rome with a small pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Square for the feast day in October – a feast which Puicón believes will be extra special this year, given the fact that there is now a “Peruvian pope” in the Vatican.

Bishop Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, celebrates celebrates Mass at the Shrine of Jesus Nazareno Cautivo in Monsefu, Chiclayo. (Credit: Courtesy of Harry Gordillo).

Normally the image of Jesús Nazareno Cautivo sits in Holy Redeemer parish out the outskirts of Rome, but it will be brought to the heart of the city Sunday for the pope’s birthday festivities.

Puicón said they are expecting a special greeting from the pope after his Angelus address Sunday, and they have also requested a special private audience with the pope either Sept. 15 or 16, depending on his availability, to offer a personal greeting.

Only around five or six people will be in the private audience, he said, saying the idea is “apart from congratulating him for his pontificate and his birthday, it is to have him sign this big banner, made by hand by artisans in Peru.”

“It will then return to northern Peru and be part of the museum of Jesús Nazareno Cautivo,” he said.

Puicón said his former bishop is especially beloved for locals due to his closeness during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, during which his own mother passed away.

Then-Bishop Prevost at one point held a large outdoor Eucharistic procession through the empty streets, which was followed by many via livestream, and which served as a source of inspiration for locals, Puicón said, saying it was, “the act of going out, of feeling like you’re not alone in that moment.”

“It’s the same as what happened with Pope Francis when he went out to give the Urbi et Orbi” in an empty and rainy St. Peter’s Square, he said.

Puicón said he was in the square when Pope Leo’s election was announced, calling it “a very emotional moment,” especially for the Peruvians who were there.

“Many people were expecting, and honestly I expected it too, to be honest,” that the next pope would be Italian, he said, saying he personally knows Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and thought it could be him or Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

However, when the moment came, “with the commotion of the people, the audio wasn’t very clear, but when he came out, and even more so when he mentioned Chiclayo,” there was a wave of emotion, he said, “because mentioning Chiclayo, it’s a small part of the world, mentioning it was a kind of gratitude.”

“Remembering the city where he was, where he had been so welcomed, where he defended Catholic fervor so much that it created so much faith, unity, it’s impressive. It’s one thing to hear him say it there, but to hear him say it right here, right now, for me it was completely moving,” he said.

As the pope’s birthday approaches, Puicón said that family matters will take him back to Peru, but he hopes that the Peruvians in Rome are excited about this Sunday’s celebration, and “we hope that he’s happy, too, on a very special day. 70 years is an important date.”