Pope Leo XIV on Thursday (November 12, 2026) denounced widespread “machismo” and violence against women in Peru, demanding that women be protected and respected as he set out marching orders for his beloved Peruvian church and people.
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he → denounce → church
After his emotional homecoming Wednesday (November 11, 2026), the Peruvian Pope got down to business and turned to the challenges facing a church and country he knows well.
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he → get → church
He called on the influential Catholic hierarchy to be models of unity and communion, and instructed Peruvian bishops to accompany their flocks and respond to victims of clergy sexual abuse with truth and justice.
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He → call → truth
He also met with six survivors, including from an abusive sect-like group that Pope Francis suppressed last year.
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Francis → meet → that
But the 71-year-old Pope also showed himself to be positively overjoyed to be home and as relaxed as he has been in public since his 2025 election.
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he → show → election
The Pope sang along enthusiastically as 40,000 people in Lima's Plaza Mayor serenaded him with “Contigo Peru,” a famous song from Peru's Pacific coast that celebrates national unity.
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that → sing → unity
He sang along later to another hymn, Alma Misionera (Missionary Soul), in Lima's stadium during a vigil along with 60,000 people inside and another 300,000 outside, according to Vatican estimates.
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He → sing → estimates
“It's a blessing not only for us Chiclayans but for all of Peru,” said Angel Esquives, a craftsman originally from Pope Leo's former diocese in Chiclayo who now lives in Lima.
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who → say → Lima
He said he left his home at 3 a.m. local time to go to the historic centre and stand in line to get as close as possible to the Pope.
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he → say → Pope
Zozimo Perez came in a self-designed costume he named “the Inca Warrior,” with the pontiff's image on his chest and back.
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he → come → chest
He was in tears as he saw Pope Leo stroll around the square.
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Leo → see → square
“This is a gift from heaven,” he said.
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he → say → heaven
As he showed in the first two legs of his South American trip, the Pope was in fine form despite having undergone lung cancer surgery last month.
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Pope → show → surgery
He bounded up a steep flight of stairs Thursday (November 12, 2026) morning without any apparent problems and joked with the bishops that some “doubting Thomases” had predicted he wouldn't be able to come.
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he → bound → bishops
“But God is great and his grace is bigger than all of us and I'm very happy to be here with you,” he said to applause.
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he → say → applause
An appeal to protect and respect women
In a speech to Peruvians in the plaza, Pope Leo denounced the culture of “machismo” and violence against women that is prevalent in Peru, saying it went against the Christian teaching that proclaims men and women share equal dignity.
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men → protect → dignity
“It pains us to see that violence against women, who could be our grandmothers, mothers, sisters or daughters, continues to be a reality that wounds all of humanity,” he said.
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he → pain → humanity
He noted that poor, Indigenous and Afro-Peruvian women are doubly penalised, and called for all women to be valued, protected and respected.
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women → note → ?
Gender-based violence is an urgent social issue in Peru, which recorded 1,261 femicide victims between 2016 and 2024, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics.
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which → base → Statistics
During that period, the number of women killed because of their gender rose by 44%, suggesting the problem is only getting worse.
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problem → kill → %
“While we've made progress with women's suffrage and in being heard more, femicides are still on the rise, or at least they're receiving more attention,” said Nicole Cruz, who was in the Plaza Mayor for the Pope's speech Thursday (November 12, 2026).
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who → make → speech
Ms. Cruz said she hopes the Pope's words will help unite women and help “men understand that we're not complaining, but that we want help and to be loved and heard.”
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we → say → help
The former Robert Prevost spent two decades as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru and credits the place with teaching him how to be a shepherd.
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Prevost → spend → him
He in many ways has modelled his vocation as a bishop on the 16th century St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, the first archbishop of Lima.
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He → model → Lima
Mogrovejo is revered for having travelled long distances to be with his flock and for having defended the rights of Indigenous and enslaved peoples.
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Mogrovejo → revere → peoples
He studied Quechua and Aymara and oversaw the printing of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in these Indigenous languages, because he believed the faith had to be transmitted in a language people could understand.
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people → study → language
Pope Leo urged bishops on Thursday (November 12, 2026) to model their vocation on his example.
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Leo → urge → example
Being a bishop, he said, means “entering people's homes, accompanying the sick, meeting young people and reaching out to communities which, due to their geographical remoteness or social vulnerability, are rarely able to make their voices heard.”
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voices → say → remoteness
While the clergy sexual abuse scandal hasn't exploded publicly in Peru as it has in other Latin American countries, the Pope identified it as a “reality that has caused us so much pain.”
“We must respond as Jesus would, with truth, justice, forgiveness, making amends and an ever more resolute commitment to fostering a culture of prevention and protection for the weakest in light of such crimes,” Pope Leo said.
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Leo → explode → crimes
He later put that into practice by meeting with six victims for an hour, listening to their stories and “reflecting with them on how to foster a change in mindset by listening to the victims, seeking the truth, pursuing paths to healing, and committing to creating safe environments,” the Vatican said.
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Vatican → put → environments
Among the six were former members of the Peru-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a once-powerful movement.
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members → base → Vitae
Pope Leo, who was the Peruvian bishops' point-person to welcome Sodalitium's victims while he was Chiclayo bishop, knows the case well.
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he → welcome → case
In 2011, former members complained to the archdiocese in Peru's capital, Lima, about abuses by its founder, Luis Figari.
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members → complain → founder
But neither the local church nor the Holy See took concrete action until one of the victims and a journalist, Pedro Salinas and Paola Ugaz, wrote a book in 2015.
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one → take → 2015
After attempts at reform, Pope Francis sent his two most trusted investigators to look into the Sodalitium abuse allegations.
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Francis → send → allegations
Their report uncovered “sadistic” sect-like abuses of power and spirituality, and financial abuses in administering church funds.
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report → uncover → funds
Pope Francis suppressed it shortly before he died, but it still wields economic power in Peru.
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it → suppress → Peru
On Thursday, Jose Escardo, the Sodalitium's first whistleblower who wrote about the abuses he suffered in 2000, said the church's rhetoric has been empty when it comes to punishing clergymen who commit crimes.
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who → write → crimes
Outside the house where Pope Leo is staying, Mr. Escardo complained that the Pope has not responded to letters from victims for over a year.
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Pope → stay → year
These are crimes, and as such they must be punished,” Mr. Escardo said.
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Escardo → punish → ?
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
