Pope Leo XIV on Saturday denounced discrimination against Afro-descendants in Peru and recalled the suffering caused by slavery in a speech in Zaña, northern Peru, closing the Jubilee Year marking the 300th anniversary of Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo’s canonization.

Delegations of indigenous peoples from the Peruvian Amazon were arriving Saturday at the river port of Pucallpa after hours and even days navigating rivers from different points of the Amazon rainforest.

Earlier Saturday, the pope celebrated Mass in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, in the Andes, where he arrived by helicopter.

RELATED: Pope Leo XIV Cajamarca: 300-Year Jubilee Ends With Call for Unity

At the Zaña stop, his vehicle was accompanied along the route by eight members of the Amazonas Chiclayanas riding traditional paso horses, and nearly 300,000 people welcomed him in the streets.

I am very pleased to be back in #Peru. This return visit holds a very special meaning for me. For years, I shared in the lives of its people, listened to their concerns, and learned from their faith. Many opened the doors of their homes to me and made me feel like one of their…

— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) November 12, 2026

Leo XIV will remain in Peru until Monday, the last stop of his first tour of Latin America after visits to Uruguay and Argentina, and the longest stage of the trip, with six days total to visit Lima, Cusco, Pucallpa and Chiclayo. His Sunday schedule includes travel to Cusco and then a meeting with indigenous peoples in the Amazonian city of Pucallpa, organized by Aidesep, Peru’s largest indigenous confederation.

The visit marks his return to his adoptive country, whose nationality he acquired in 2015. He spent more than 20 years in Peru as a missionary and bishop, from 1985 to 2023, when Pope Francis summoned him to the Vatican to head the Dicastery for Bishops.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.