SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — With a culture as rich as Peru’s, you can see it, and you can hear it. So when the world started learning more about the new pope, they thought he was just a cardinal from Chicago.
They were in for a surprise.
“But then later on when we started to know more about who [Pope Leo] really is and when he mentioned about the town of Chiclayo in Peru, that emotion, that turned into an emotional moment,” said Claudia Newkirk, President of the House of Peru in Balboa Park.
When starting out as a missionary, Pope Leo the Fourteenth was sent to Chulucanas, Peru, back in 1985.
“Why do you think he was first sent to Chulucanas?” I asked.
“Because, you know, there is a lot of need in Peru. Peru is a third-world country, and there's nothing that we can do to change that,” said Newkirk.
It was there that he lived among the community, eventually spending decades in the country, where he later became the Bishop of Chiclayo.
Peruvians across the world celebrated his new role, despite him not even having ancestral ties to the country.
“But it doesn't matter the background that you have in your roots. At the end, we all are Peruvian and we are Peruvian in our hearts forever,” said Newkirk.
From Chicago to Chiclayo.
As soon as the white smoke billowed, Americans and Peruvians looked to the Vatican with a little more pride.
“So, he did call Peru ‘mi segunda patria’, my second homeland. What does that mean to you?” I asked.
“Means the whole world, and why? Because being such a special leader worldwide. And… identify himself as Peruvian, that means a lot,” said Newkirk.
