'Don't Forget the Chapel': How Pope Leo XIV's Private Promise Helped Revive Chiclayo's Poorest Parish in Peru

Pope Leo XIV blesses the crowd from the window of the apostolic palace overlooking St. Peter's square during the Angelus prayer a day after his return to The Vatican following a surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his right lung, on October 18, 2026. (Credit: Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images)

The Briefing

• Pope Leo XIV's first apostolic journey to South America — running November 6–17, 2026 through Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru — includes a confirmed private visit to the San Óscar Romero chapel in Chiclayo's La Victoria district on November 13, at 12:40 p.m.
• The chapel was rebuilt with funding from U.S. donors mobilized through Monsignor Edgard Rimaycuna Inga, a La Victoria native who went on to become the pope's personal secretary, thanks to his connections to then-Cardinal Robert Prevost.
• In August 2025, shortly after Prevost's election as pope, Rimaycuna delivered a papal miter and a financial contribution to the San José Obrero parish in Chiclayo — a gesture the local priest links to the pope's standing reminder: "Don't forget the chapel."