(ZENIT News / Chiclayo, 08.17.2025).- In the crowded parish of St. Joseph the Worker, in Chiclayo’s district of La Victoria, a glass case now holds an object few Catholics ever expect to see outside Rome: a papal mitre. The headdress, personally gifted by Pope Leo XIV to the parish where he once served, was carried across the ocean by his secretary, Peruvian priest Egar Rimaycuna Inga, and presented to the faithful during Sunday Mass on August 10.
The gesture was more than ceremonial. For many in Chiclayo, it was a reminder that the new pope—born Robert Francis Prevost in the United States but ordained to pastoral life in Peru—remains closely tied to the community where he lived and ministered for decades before becoming bishop and later rising to the papacy.
As the mitre was unveiled, Rimaycuna also announced the pope’s financial support for the construction of the future Óscar Romero Chapel in La Victoria, intended to expand the district’s pastoral infrastructure. Local authorities responded by awarding Rimaycuna the city’s medal, thanking him for representing both the Pontiff and his ongoing concern for the needs of Chiclayo’s faithful.
This is not the first time Pope Leo XIV has reached back to his Peruvian roots since his election earlier this year. In July, following the Angelus at Castel Gandolfo, he interrupted the customary greetings to single out pilgrims from Chiclayo’s San Agustín College, marking their Jubilee visit to Rome with a personal salute. His secretary, himself a former diocesan priest in the region, stood nearby, visibly moved by the recognition.
The affection is mutual. Peru’s bishops have often spoken of Leo XIV’s familiarity with the local culture and his ease in pastoral settings. Bishop Jorge Izaguirre of Chosica, vice president of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference, recalled the pope’s spontaneity at his inaugural Mass. “He knows our ways,” Izaguirre said. “After the solemn moments, when people started asking for pictures in our typical style—‘one with my mother, one with my cousin’—he joined in with a smile, even as the Vatican officials fretted about time.”
For Chiclayo, the papal mitre is now more than a relic. It is a visible link between the parish pews of La Victoria and the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, between a local community and a pastor who now carries the burdens of the universal Church.
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