Rome, 15 Nov. (LaPresse) – “I feel a deep sense of joy at being here with you. How I have longed for this moment to arrive! As I was travelling here, so many memories came flooding back of the years during which the Lord entrusted me with the care of this beloved diocese. Among them, there is one that I cherish in a special way: the night before I began my ministry as Bishop of Chiclayo.” Leone XIV said this in his address at the prayer gathering at the Shrine of San Toribio, in the diocese of Chiclayo, which had been his diocese for many years, in Peru. “I remember,” he continued, “spending that night in prayer, asking the Lord, through the intercession of Saint Toribio, to grant me the grace to be a shepherd after his own heart. I did not know then everything that lay ahead of me, nor how much I would receive from you. Thank you for welcoming me with the joy and hospitality that characterise you, for so many gestures of affection, and also for the delicious food you have prepared for me with such care. Even those familiar flavours have reminded me of the wonderful times I spent here. Thank you for making me feel, once again, that I am at home.”
Pope Leo XIV at the San Toribio Shrine in Peru: “It is a great joy to be here with you”
Rome, 15 Nov. (LaPresse) – “I feel a deep sense of joy at being here with you. How I have longed for this moment to arrive! As I was travelling here, so many memories came flooding back of the years during which the Lord entrusted me with the care of this beloved diocese. Among them, there is one that I cherish in a special way: the night before I began my ministry as Bishop of Chiclayo.” Leone XIV said this in his address at the prayer gathering at the Shrine of San Toribio, in the diocese of Chiclayo, which had been his diocese for many years, in Peru. “I remember,” he continued, “spending that night in prayer, asking the Lord, through the intercession of Saint Toribio, to grant me the grace to be a shepherd after his own heart. I did not know then everything that lay ahead of me, nor how much I would receive from you. Thank you for welcoming me with the joy and hospitality that characterise you, for so many gestures of affection, and also for the delicious food you have prepared for me with such care. Even those familiar flavours have reminded me of the wonderful times I spent here. Thank you for making me feel, once again, that I am at home.”