Mid-City Christian: “Argentina, arise and walk!”: Leo says farewell at Luján

Back in Peru, Leo tells its leaders, “I am returning to my homeland”

Greeted by President Keiko Fujimori at Callao and by some 3 million people along his route into Lima, Leo told authorities, civil society, and diplomats at the Gran Teatro Nacional, “Today I understand how much of this land remains with me and how much of my own story also belongs to you.” NCR’s Justin McLellan called it a deeply personal break from the usual formal arrival speech. Leo urged leaders to protect the “everyday peace” of families threatened by violence and said, “Democratic life implies recognizing that no one has all the answers and that differences do not prevent us from sharing a sincere concern for the good of the country.” — Full text (Holy See Press Office) · National Catholic Reporter (Justin McLellan) · America (Gerard O’Connell) · Vatican News · AP

“Argentina, arise and walk!”: Leo says farewell at Luján

Celebrating Mass for about 2 million people outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, the national shrine so dear to Pope Francis, Leo laid out a path of “reconciliation, enlightenment through the word of God, communion, and being sent forth on mission.” Quoting his encyclical Magnifica humanitas, he said the Church’s “diverse sensibilities” and “strong convictions” are a richness “if they remain anchored in the certainty that unity is a gift received and a responsibility to be fulfilled.” AP called the visit “emotional and politically charged”; President Javier Milei saw him off at the airport. — Homily (Holy See Press Office) · America (Gerard O’Connell) · National Catholic Reporter · Vatican News · AP

To prisoners, Leo says we grow “not in spite of” our limits

At Buenos Aires’ Villa Devoto federal prison, where AP notes the 1976–1983 military junta held political prisoners, Leo listened to inmates’ testimonies and told them, “Human beings do not flourish in spite of their limitations, but often through them.” He urged inmates to see their time as a chance to begin anew, asked guards not to believe that “nothing will ever change for the better,” and called on society to protect young people from “the pernicious networks of criminality.” — Full text (Holy See Press Office) · Vatican News · AP

Today in Lima, then home to Chiclayo

Leo meets Peru’s bishops this morning and leads midmorning prayer with clergy, religious, and synodal teams in Lima’s cathedral, followed by a public meeting in the square outside on “the challenges and hopes” of the Peruvian people. On Friday he flies to Chiclayo, where he was bishop from 2015 to 2023, for what NCR calls the real homecoming of the trip. CNN’s Claudia Rebaza and Christopher Lamb recall how “Padre Robert” waded into floodwaters, raised money for oxygen plants during COVID-19, and helped Venezuelan migrants settle in the region. — America (Gerard O’Connell) · National Catholic Reporter · CNN (via KSL) · Program (Vatican.va) · Also: Where Peter Is (Claudio Iván Remeseira)

Pope and Holy See

[IT] Today’s bulletin: new bishops for Senegal and South Africa. The pope moved Bishop Martin Boucar Tine, S.S.S., from Kaolack to Thiès, Senegal, and named Father Enrico Valentino Parry, a priest of Oudtshoorn who directs the secretariat of the Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa, as bishop of Keimoes-Upington, South Africa. — Holy See Press Office
“I have returned home. Here I am at home.” Greeting well-wishers from the balcony of Lima’s apostolic nunciature after dinner, Leo asked them to pray for peace and for unity in their families, and joked that the celebrations could go on a little longer, but not too long, because the neighbors wanted some peace too. — Vatican News
Fujimori uses the visit to call for national reconciliation. Reuters reports that Peru’s president, the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, said the country must confront the “unfinished task” of reconciliation after decades of guerrilla violence, state abuses, and polarization. CNN notes that Prevost helped gather signatures for Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. — Reuters (via Internazionale) · CNN (via KSL)
Argentina’s bishops promise to take up the pope’s challenges. Archbishop Marcelo Colombo, president of the bishops’ conference, said the Church must now “translate this into pastoral choices,” and Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva said, “I think we have made ‘Everyone is welcome’ a reality.” — Vatican News (Felipe Herrera-Espaliat)
As Leo visits Peru, young people welcome new reasons to hope. At Lima’s Pontifical Catholic University, theologians and a political scientist describe students asking, “Where will there be a place for us?” and say reconciliation in Peru “implies justice.” — Vatican News (Francesca Merlo)

United States

Bishops head to Baltimore next week for their fall assembly. The Nov. 16–19 meeting will take up artificial intelligence, an update on immigration one year after the bishops’ special message, and votes on a new conference secretary (Bishops Earl Fernandes and Kevin Rhoades), six committee chairmen, a new Lectionary, and a Day of Prayer for Racial Justice. — USCCB · Nominees (USCCB)

Around the World

Catholic groups press for fossil fuel phaseout and climate funding at COP31. As the U.N. climate summit opens in Antalya, Turkey, Caritas Internationalis called climate finance “justice, not charity,” and the chairmen of two USCCB committees joined Catholic Relief Services in urging leaders to remember that “behind every number is a family.” — National Catholic Reporter (Brian Roewe)
English bishops’ Sherrington urges Parliament to drop a conversion practices bill. Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool said the Church “opposes abuse in all circumstances” and that existing law already covers abusive practices, but warned the draft bill’s broad scope could create uncertainty for lawful pastoral care, family life, and religious freedom. — Statement (Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales) · Crux

Liturgy and Church Life

Memorial of St. Josaphat, bishop and martyr. The 17th-century monk and archbishop of Polotsk gave his life for the unity of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and is remembered as a “martyr of unity.” — Vatican News · USCCB readings

Video and Podcasts

The bishop for Silicon Valley on A.I. On America’s “Jesuitical,” Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ new task force on human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence, talks about how Catholics should respond to the technology, ahead of his report to the bishops next week. — YouTube (America Media)