Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit five Peruvian cities during the first two weeks of November 2026, according to Peruvian President José María Balcázar. After a private audience with the Pope at the Vatican on June 18, Balcázar told journalists the Pope gave him “permission” to confirm the itinerary: Lima, Chiclayo, Piura, Pucallpa in the Amazon jungle, and Cusco. “From Lima, he will go to Chiclayo, from Chiclayo to Piura, from Piura to Pucallpa, to the jungle, and he will also visit Cusco,” the president said.
He added that the team organizing papal flights will finalize the route, but an additional stop in Arequipa is possible.Balcázar said he suggested the Pope travel by helicopter from Chiclayo to the Andean region of Incahuasi and Cañaris, a poor Quechua-speaking area the Pope knows well from his time there. “We have offered him the helicopter for any point he wishes to cover quickly, because he wants to cover as many small towns in the north as possible, as well as those in the jungle and Cusco,” he said. Pope Leo XIV lived in Chiclayo between 2015 and 2023.
The president described the meeting as “magnificent and friendly” and noted it lasted nearly two hours in the Vatican Apostolic Library. Balcázar, a member of parliament for Lambayeque/Chiclayo, said they had met before. They discussed Peru’s political situation as the country counted votes from the presidential runoff. The Pope expressed concern over the delayed results and stressed the need for a smooth transition “without major conflicts, and with the loser recognizing the winner.” The official winner is expected to be announced in mid-July.The two also reviewed Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, published May 25, which addresses artificial intelligence and human rights. Balcázar called it “a tremendous call to the common good.”
Migration was another topic. The Pope acknowledged that criminals migrate but emphasized that migrants must not be persecuted and should be given the right to life. “These human rights must have concrete content, not just a lyrical declaration, but must be translated into material and objective facts,” Balcázar quoted him as saying.After leaving the Apostolic Palace around 1 p.m. Rome time, the president went to the Vatican Gardens to pray before the image of Saint Rose of Lima, which the Pope enthroned in a ceremony in January.