Pope Leo XIV’s Peru Visit Highlights Afro-Peruvian History

Zaña, a center of Afro-Peruvian culture in northern Peru, is hosting Pope Leo XIV for a prayer gathering inside a shrine dedicated to Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo. Leo, who previously served as bishop in nearby Chiclayo, is expected to focus on the community’s history during the visit on November 14. Afro-Peruvian singer Susana Baca sang for him when he arrived in Peru.

The visit follows Leo’s apology in his first encyclical for earlier popes’ part in making slavery seem acceptable and their failure over centuries to denounce it. The document referred to 15th-century Vatican directives that authorized European rulers to conquer lands and enslave non-Christians. Leo wrote that he felt deep sorrow for the suffering and humiliation endured by enslaved people and asked forgiveness in the church’s name.

An estimated 100,000 Africans were brought to Peru in slavery after Spanish conquistadors arrived. They and their descendants worked on sugar plantations and in silver mines, and at one point made up more than 40% of Lima’s population. Peru’s 2017 census counted 1,311 residents of Zaña who identified as Afro-Peruvian and 78,639 across the Lambayeque region.

Zaña received UNESCO recognition in 2017 as a site of memory for slavery and African cultural heritage. Its Afro-Peruvian museum holds historical photographs, plantation carts, musical instruments and documents related to enslaved people. The community has welcomed Leo’s return and celebrated Baca’s performance; the pope’s maternal great-grandparents were recorded as free people of color in 19th-century Louisiana.

Baca has said she feels connected to Leo because he emphasizes asking forgiveness and forgiving. She chose two songs for him that, she said, express a shared understanding of faith. Zaña’s sanctuary is named for Mogrovejo, who defended Indigenous and enslaved people’s rights and formally recognized Martin de Porres as the Americas’ first Black saint.