Pope visits hub of Afro-Peruvian community in Peru

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 14 Nov, 09:01 · Archive

Pope Leo XIV is visiting Zaña, a centre of Afro-Peruvian culture, to highlight the community's history and fight against discrimination.

Pope Leo XIV is visiting Zaña on Saturday, a centre of Afro-Peruvian culture, to highlight the community and the history of the African slave trade in Peru. Susana Baca, a Latin Grammy-winning Afro-Peruvian singer and Peru's first Black Cabinet minister, serenaded the pope upon his arrival in the country. Baca has been a leading figure in campaigning against the discrimination that has long made Black Peruvians and Peru's Indigenous peoples second-class citizens.

The pope will lead a prayer meeting at the sanctuary of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo in Zaña, where he often visited to pray while serving as bishop of nearby Chiclayo. The 16th-century archbishop, after whom the sanctuary is named, was the first archbishop of Lima and defended the rights of Indigenous and enslaved people. He was known for having confirmed St. Martin de Porres, the first Black saint of the Americas and patron saint of racial harmony and social justice.

Pope Leo, who is U.S.-born and has enslaved people and slave owners in his own family tree, has already addressed the issue of slavery. In his first encyclical, 'Magnificent Humanity,' he made a sweeping apology for the role of past popes in legitimizing slavery and failing to condemn it for centuries, referring to 15th-century Vatican directives that authorized European sovereigns to conquer Africa and the Americas and enslave non-Christians.

How it is being reported

• Pope's visit to hub of Afro-Peruvian community casts spotlight on African slave trade to PeruPope Leo XIV is putting the spotlight on Afro-Peruvians during a visit to a hub of their community.Clickorlando · 14 Nov, 07:10
• Pope's visit to hub of Afro-Peruvian community casts spotlight on African slave trade to PeruPope Leo XIV is putting the spotlight on Afro-Peruvians during a visit to a hub of their community.News4Jax · 14 Nov, 07:10

In this story: Pope Leo XIV · Susana Baca · St. Turibius of Mogrovejo · St. Martin de Porres · Peru · Zaña · Lima

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