Pope Leo XIV presided this Saturday, November 14, at the Cathedral of Santa María de Chiclayo, over the coronation rite of the image of the Immaculate Virgin, and took the opportunity to entrust his pontificate to her. The Pope celebrated the act in the church where he began his episcopal service as Bishop of Chiclayo in 2015, during his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, which concludes on November 17. “To your immaculate heart I entrust today my life and my ministry as Successor of Peter,” he said in the homily, according to the text published by the Holy See.
The ceremony brought together the faithful inside the cathedral and hundreds more in the square surrounding it. At the beginning, the Pope gave thanks to God for returning to the church that witnessed the first steps of his episcopal ministry and explained that the crown he was about to place on the image symbolizes the tribute of gratitude and filial love offered by himself, the people of Chiclayo, and the entire Church. After the homily, he placed a golden crown on the Virgin, amid the applause of those present.
“With you I learned to be shepherd of Chiclayo”
The most personal moment came when Leo XIV addressed the image directly. “With you I learned to be shepherd of Chiclayo,” he stated, and recalled the years when the Virgin accompanied him through the towns and cities of the diocese and taught him to meet his people. He also recalled that devotion to the Immaculate is part of the Christian roots that shape the identity of the people of Chiclayo and strengthen their faith.
The homily also had a tone of hope amid the shadows of the present. The Pope acknowledged that darkness continues to lurk and that the uncertainty of increasingly widespread violence produces threat and unease. In response, he presented Christ as the answer, citing Isaiah: “a child is born to us, a son is given to us.” Only He, he said, “is the light that illuminates the most hidden corners of human existence” and the only one capable of rescuing from sin.
The Virgin as “cause of our joy”
Leo XIV invoked Mary as “cause of our joy,” because her “yes” to the angel allowed God to enter the history of men made man. He asked the faithful of Chiclayo to continue walking together, “as one family of God,” with love, forgiveness, and the pursuit of justice.
The Pontiff concluded with a prayer that begins with the words “Holy Mary, full of the presence of God.” In it, he asked the Virgin to continue accompanying her people and to obtain for the faithful the gift of listening attentively to the Holy Spirit, so that they may be builders of peace and reconciliation and servants of the Kingdom of God and of their brothers and sisters.
A day dedicated to his former diocese
The rite is part of a day the Pope dedicated to his former Peruvian see. That same day, InfoVaticana reported on his speech at the University of Chiclayo, where he warned against transhumanism, and the day before it covered his homily at the Mass celebrated in the city, in which he cited Benedict XVI.