Pope Leo XIV is on a six-day visit to Peru, which is part of his 12-day journey through Latin America. During this trip, the pope also visited Uruguay and Argentina, and on Thursday, a multitude of people flooded the streets of Lima.
In Lima, the pope began the second day of his return to the country where he spent a large part of his life. Leo XIV was born in Chicago, and he spent about 20 years in Peru as a missionary and bishop. He holds American and Peruvian citizenship and is the first pope of Peruvian nationality to lead the Catholic Church.
Croatian priest Marko Jukić operates in Lima and stated that the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Peru represents a special event for the inhabitants of South America. Jukić is the delegate of the Croatian Foreign Pastoral Service for South America, and his delegation covers Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama.
Jukić celebrated Mass last weekend in the Argentine city of Cordoba during the Ninth Meeting of the Croatian Diaspora of South America. The Mass was dedicated to Croatian communities in the diaspora, Croatia, Argentina, Croatian defenders and the poor.
As one of the biggest challenges, Jukić highlighted the great distances between Croatian communities. He also cited the lack of priests for pastoral care of Croatian communities and social and political instability in certain countries in the region.
Jukić has been operating in South America for 11 years. Before coming to Peru, he worked as an educator in a seminary and a parish vicar in Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
