Peru will host Pope Leo XIV for an official visit from November 11 to 16, 2026, marking his first arrival in the country since becoming pontiff and his first as a Peruvian citizen. The five-day program follows an invitation from President Keiko Fujimori, who took office in July, and will also include stops in Argentina and Uruguay as part of a regional tour.
The papal visit will feature a newly composed hymn, León, Hermano del Camino, written in Andean style and selected through a national contest. The song honors Sister Maria Agustina Rivas, known as Aguchita, a missionary nun assassinated in 1990 by members of the Sendero Luminoso guerrilla movement while working in the Amazon region. The Vatican recognized her death as a martyrdom motivated by hatred of the Catholic faith, and she was beatified in 2022 under Pope Francis.
A youth choir, Coro Juvenil Aguchita, will perform the hymn during the visit. The ensemble is led by 27-year-old Keverly Escobar, who described the performance as an honor to a figure who "gave her life for the most humble." Composer Jaime Montoya said the piece reflects a shared spirit of sacrifice between Aguchita and Pope Leo XIV, noting that the music drew inspiration from the pontiff’s earlier life as a missionary bishop in Peru.
Monsignor Pedro Castro of the Apostolic Vicariate of San Ramón highlighted the historical context, stating that Aguchita was aware of the risks posed by Sendero Luminoso, which during the 1980–2000 conflict pressured communities to align with its ideology. Official estimates place the death toll from the conflict at approximately 69,000 killed or missing.
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost in the United States, first arrived in Peru in 1985 as a missionary and later became a Peruvian citizen in 2015. He concluded his service in Chiclayo in 2023 before ascending to the papacy.
