Leo XIV returns to Santa Cruz: the stories of the Cajamarcan people who met Robert Prevost as bishop

On September 28, 2022, Robert Prevost presided over a mass in honor of Señor del Costado, patron saint of Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, in Cajamarca. That would be, according to its inhabitants, the last religious celebration that he would lead in this town as bishop of Chiclayo. Months later he was summoned to Rome to assume new responsibilities at the Vatican, but before leaving he left a pending promise: to return to reunite with the faithful he had accompanied for years. This Saturday, November 14, four years after that celebration, he will return to Santa Cruz, although no longer as bishop or cardinal, but as Pope Leo XIV.

The town is located approximately 2,030 meters above sea level and is the capital of a province made up of 11 districts, which registers 34,210 inhabitants, according to the 2025 National Census of the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI). Located in the Sierra de Cajamarca, it borders to the west with the Lambayeque region and belongs ecclesiastically to the diocese of Chiclayo. This relationship allowed Prevost to maintain frequent contact with its communities, even in areas where access difficulties prolonged road travel.

In Santa Cruz, photographs of those days are still part of the parish and family archives. Some show the religious during confirmations; others, in the patron saint festivities. Now, several of these images serve as references for the murals that are painted on the facades of homes and institutions, while preparations for the arrival of the pontiff advance.

A pending promise

Father Wildor Cubas Julca, parish priest of La Inmaculada Church, met Prevost when he was still a seminarian. In 2021, the bishop himself appointed him to work in this parish, without imagining that five years later he would be in charge of receiving him, becoming the highest authority of the Catholic Church.

As he explained to El Comercio, before moving to Rome, Prevost expressed his intention to return to Santa Cruz as a cardinal. However, the responsibilities he assumed in the Vatican prevented that meeting from taking place.

“I never imagined receiving him as parish priest of this beautiful parish,” Cubas recalled during an interview with this newspaper.

The priest highlighted his willingness to talk with those who came to him. “When you wanted to talk, when you wanted to have a space with him, he was always available,” he said.

One of the main reasons for their trips was the festival of the Lord of the Side, affectionately known as the Canillita, whose central celebration takes place every September 28. During those days, Prevost presided over masses and participated in religious activities that brought together families from different parts of the province.

Vilma Inés Flores worked for five years as a parish secretary and witnessed several of those meetings. He says that the religious used to arrive for the patron saint’s celebrations, despite the difficulties of traveling from Chiclayo. “He always came with that humility, with that affection,” he mentioned.

His pastoral work was also linked to the Virgin of Remedies, venerated in Llicán. Vilma also recalled that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Prevost and the then parish priest Antero Céspedes supported the efforts to implement an oxygen plant aimed at meeting the needs of the population.

Vilma followed the announcement of the conclave while exchanging messages with priests she had met during her work in the parish. The possibility of Prevost being elected already generated expectations among them. “Robert Prevost is going to be him, it’s going to be him,” he recalled about those moments before the announcement.

Meetings outside the parish

Not all the stories that the neighbors preserve occurred during a mass. Mita Inca, a native of Loreto and resident in Santa Cruz for 46 years, keeps a particular anecdote: one afternoon she received the future Pope at her home to share a lunch. “He also had lunch again, when he was bishop, at my house,” he said.

On that occasion, he remembers, they shared bread from the Hurtado bakery accompanied by cheese. It was one of the foods that the religious used to consume during his stays in the area. Mita assures that she naturally accepted what the families offered her.

He also met him during his tours of Saucepampa, where he participated in confirmation ceremonies. He still has photographs of those meetings that today take on a different meaning for his family.

Among those who hope to see him again are Sofía Vera, her mother, María Fernández de Vera and her entire family. Sofía grew up in Santa Cruz, studied at the Juan Ugaz school and maintains family ties that lead her to return frequently. María arrived in the town in 1974 and worked in the municipality before settling in Chiclayo.

Both knew part of Prevost’s pastoral activity. María also coincided with him in religious celebrations at the San Martín de Porres church, in the Lambayecan capital. His election as pontiff turned those experiences into reasons for family conversation.

The walls full of memories

On Cutervo Street, Edwin Izquierdo Fuentes, known as Cadú, has been working for more than a month on the paintings that will receive the pontiff. He was born in Celendín, began drawing as a child and graduated in 2012 from the Mario Urteaga Alvarado School of Fine Arts, in Cajamarca.

The artist explained that his team was commissioned to create 25 murals dedicated to Leo XIV, in addition to other interventions linked to institutions and private companies.

The works represent different stages of Prevost’s religious work and incorporate elements of the local landscape, such as the Hatun Sirka hill and the Coturumi viewpoint. For some compositions, the painters used photographs provided by the parish.

One of the images reconstructs a celebration of the Lord of the Side presided over by the former bishop. The scene, which for years remained recorded in a photograph, now occupies one of the town’s facades.

The works are part of Pueblo de Colores, an initiative of the Regional Government of Cajamarca. According to the Andina agency, the project includes the inauguration of 30 murals on Friday, November 13, one day before the papal arrival.

The mass and the preparations

The agenda for Saturday the 14th will begin in Chiclayo. At 8:00 am, Leo XIV will participate in the coronation rite of the Immaculate Virgin, in the Cathedral of Santa María. Later, he will travel by helicopter to Santa Cruz de Succabamba, where he will preside over a mass at 11:00 am

The ceremony will be held at the León XIV aviation pampa, a space prepared to receive thousands of faithful. The stage, whose installation is in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, must go through security evaluations before the activity.

According to the Ministry of Defense, four Mi-17 helicopters have been planned to support movements between Chiclayo and Santa Cruz, including the return to the Lambayecan capital. These aircraft are also contemplated for other activities of the pontiff in Lima and Cusco.

In parallel, the La Inmaculada parish carries out cleaning, glass repair and conditioning of its facilities. Cubas indicated that the coordination involves the National Police, the Health sector, the Regional Government and other institutions responsible for the organization.

The Army also participates through Operation León del Norte, which includes the deployment of approximately 1,000 troops and 20 off-road military trucks to support security and transportation efforts in Chiclayo and Santa Cruz.

Added to these activities is the Feria de la Fe, a craft and agro-industrial exhibition that will bring together local producers and from other Cajamarca provinces until Sunday, November 15.