{"id":50451,"date":"2025-06-27T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/?p=50451"},"modified":"2025-11-28T15:01:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T13:01:41","slug":"lion-of-peru-nine-anecdotes-pope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/en\/actualidad\/leon-de-peru-nueve-anecdotas-papa\/","title":{"rendered":"Lion of Peru': 9 anecdotes to learn more about the Pope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pope documentary<\/a> in video 'Lion of Peru<\/a>It is well put together, agile and contains anecdotes and unknown testimonies of many Peruvians. It is 45 minutes prepared by the editorial direction of the Dicastery for Vatican Communication, which retraces the steps of Father Robert Francis Prevost's mission in Peru. From Chicago to Chulucanas, from Chiclayo to the Vatican\", says one of the background songs by Los Bachiches. For this text, 9 of the almost 50 testimonies have been selected, although more are cited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The filmmakers, Salvatore Cernuzio, Felipe Herrera-Espaliat and Jaime Vizcaino Haro, who also edited the video, have divided the video into three parts, with the testimonies as the backbone. After the general introduction, we find the first block (4' 19\"): 'El Padre Roberto. Chulucanas - Trujillo'. The second (18' 44\") is: 'Monsignor Prevost, Chiclayo - Callao'. And the third (37'), simply 'The Pope'.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The Pope is Peruvian!\"<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\"The Pope is Peruvian!\". For Peruvians, the fact that Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago is irrelevant. \"The Pope is Peruvian\", many say, especially in the north of the country, and this is what they say in the documentary. It has been almost twenty years of mission between Chulucanas, Trujillo, as apostolic administrator in Callao, and then as bishop in Chiclayo. Among the abundance of testimonies, it has been necessary to select. Here are some of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivonne Leiva (Trujillo). For many Peruvians it was not a surprise<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some Vaticanists have commented in interviews that the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope was a surprise. However, for some Peruvians it was not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivonne Leiva, from the Nuestra Se\u00f1ora de Montserrat parish in Trujillo, where Father Roberto was parish administrator from 1992 to 1999, tells us: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"We had been praying and praying that God would grant us the best pope. But because we knew he could be, we all prayed for that, right? We prayed that he would be, because we know how he is, how he works. Suddenly, God does not pay attention to us. But we are praying, we are praying...\", and he left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Augustinian friar, seeing the white smoke, thought: \"What if it's the Cardinal? What if it's our brother Roberto? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others like Marist missionary Sister Margaret Walsh commented from Lima that people from Callao said that she could leave, but \"we did not expect it\". <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.- Mildred's godfather, as her deceased mother.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hector Camacho, seen moments before dispatching chickens in the Chulucanas market (4' 40\"), is a friend of Fr. Robert Prevost, and tells the story of his sponsorship, one of many in the video. \"He came here when he was very young, in the years 85, 86, 87..., where a group of altar boys were led by him. He gave us an education of faith, full of love for our neighbor, full of love for God. We learned a lot from him\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"One day I went to his house, and he was a little sad. He told me that his mother had passed away, and that he was going to the United States for a few days. Then I told him that my wife was pregnant, and that if he would allow me to name the baby after his mother, to which he agreed. I asked him to write the name, Mildred. And then I asked him to be my daughter's godfather, to which he also gladly agreed\". Hector's daughter, the Pope's goddaughter, young Mildred Camacho, is still impressed with the fact that \"my godfather is known worldwide\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H\u00e9ctor Camacho says he is sure that \"he will do a great job in favor of all the people of the world. I am sure that wherever there is war, he is going to do a great job for all the people of the world. peace<\/a>Where there is discord, he will put love, because he has those qualities\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Lola Ch\u00e1vez, catechist in Chulucanas<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\"I was a catechist, and we had Sunday Masses. Many children came on Sundays. That's where I met him. He was very inclined to teach them catechesis, and then he was with the formation of altar boys\", says Lola Chavez, catechist in Chulucanas (7' 49\"). Marina Ruid\u00edas, also a former catechist, emphasizes that \"God had been preparing him, because he began his priesthood here\". \"A great Lion has been forged in the north of Peru\", says one of the songs (10').<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jannina Sesa (Chiclayo). With the coastal 'Ni\u00f1o', she brought the church to its feet.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many people appear in the documentary. People like Jorge 'Coco' Montoro, to whom Father Roberto gave his old camera when he left for the United States, or Berta Ramos, from the soup kitchen in Trujillo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jannina Sesa, former director of Caritas Chiclayo, tells (18' 54\"), that in 2017, the phenomenon of 'coastal El Ni\u00f1o<\/a>The overflowing of the La Leche river, which flows through the province of Chiclayo in the Lambayeque region, caused numerous floods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"It was the beginning of the work of our bishop emeritus Robert Prevot, now Pope, being the first time that he put the Church on its feet, with the sensitization of the people to donate food, calaminas, etc.\". In fact, there is an excerpt (19:30\") of the bishop in Illimo, one of the hardest hit villages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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