Those who are writing about Pope Leo XIV, refer to his predecessor Leo XIIIThe Pope himself has endorsed several similarities, which allow us to presage that Leo XIV would be the Pope of unity.
It turns out that this Pope is an American with years of work and experience in Peru, which has allowed him to know well the idiosyncrasies of these Spanish-American lands.
At the beginning of this year, which is the year of hope, I was in Spain promoting the Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo film.
Revitalize your figure
Twelve years ago Pope Benedict XVI said to the Archbishop of Lima, "What are you doing with Santo Toribio? The Holy Father said that Saint Toribio had to be made known because he was the Charles Borromeo of America.
In fact, Santo Toribio brought to the American lands, and especially to the diocese of Lima, the Council of Trent, which was of the Counter-Reformation, to clarify Catholic doctrine from the confusion that had arisen from Luther's reform.
The Latin American touch that Leo XIV has, makes him very skillful to produce in this continent a re-evangelization, like the one that Saint Toribio did in the XVII century, on the back of a mule, With the Gospel, the catechism, translated into Quechua and Aymara, and with the sacraments, the extensive territory he was given, to evangelize and confirm as many people as he could. He was a man who went out to the peripheries to take the Word of God to the farthest corners of the world.
The black legend
Spanish Catholics told me a few months ago, that the time had come for twinning in Latin America, to erase the black legends, which had been woven for years by the enemies of the Church, and that we should rather highlight the evangelization made by the saints who preached in these lands with great sacrifice and giving their lives so that everyone would know the Gospels and could live an authentic Christian life of love for God and others.
We are in similar times. Pope Leo XIV speaks of the challenges we face in the face of Artificial Intelligence and ideologies that have forgotten about Christ and have him as just another leader and not as the Son of God.
Santo Toribio clarified things giving many lights to all the people, to the clergy, to the civil authorities and to the people. His work was impressive.
Pope Leo XIV is a devotee of Saint Toribio, he was Grand Chancellor of the University of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo in Chiclayo.
The Road to Santo Toribio
Today, those of us who are promoting a feature film of the saint, with "Goya Producciones" are encouraging, with several universities, to design "the way of Santo Toribio" for pilgrimages, something similar to the "Camino de Santiago" in Spain.
There is an urgent need to re-Christianize our continent and the entire world. This father has that mission. We all accompany him with our prayer and an action similar to that of Saint Toribio to reach everyone with the clarity of doctrine.
The Roads of Santiago and of Santo Toribio are roads that lead to God. Saints lead us to God and God wants us to be saints. That is why we need the Sacraments.
Now Leo XIV, and all of us, with the intercession of St. Toribius and Leo XIII, will strongly ask St. Michael the Archangel to "cast out with his Divine power Satan and the evil spirits that are scattered throughout the world for the perdition of souls".
In the year of hope, new times will come, times of light and unity in Peter's boat.
Peruvian priest
