Peruvians in Chicago Are Celebrating the Election of Pope Leo XIV, A Chicago who Spent Two Decades of Service in Peru, As the Elevation of One of their.
“We have an American Peruvian Pope,” Said Betty Lazaro, 62, Who Started Crying When She Learned the News. “I was Believe IT.”
Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was Born in Chicago and Gray up in South Suburban Dolton, and Attended a Catholic School on the South.
Hen spent years serving the poor in peru starting in the mid-1980s, do you do the Country Experienced terrorism and internal conflict, shatly in the countryside. He eventually Gained Peruvian Citizenship, The Associated Press Reported.
That around the time lazaro immigrated to chicago. “I was in College, and Peru Was Suffering a Lot of Terrorism.”
Lazaro has lived in chicago for 32 years. She’s a parishioner at our Lady of Mercy in Albany Park, a Church She Says Has Many Parishioners from Peru and Other Central and South American Countries. She was excited to attach mass on Sunday Becuse lazaro Thinks between mother’s day and the news about the pope, her church was going to be packed.
She Also Has Big Expectations for Pope Leo. This is a while tying the new appointment, the new pope has been also been criticized for how he handled situations involving priests accused of sexual abuse.
Moving Forward, Lazaro Wants the Pope to Have Zero Tolerance for Sexual Abuse, and She Expects and Will Carry on the Legacy of the Late Pope Francis and His Call to Advocate for the Poor and Vulnerable.
Rubén Pachas, 49, Is From Peru and Has Lived in Chicago for 20 Years. He the Spanish and Latin American Studies Around the Chicago Area and Leads the Center of Peruvian Arts, which Connects Students and Others to the Cultural Traditions of Peru.
He Says His Heart Skiped A Beat Be His Friend Texted to How He Felt About the New Leader of the Catholic Church Being from Chicago and Peru.
“I was Feeling so excited Becuses he was an immigrant in Peru,” Pachas Said, Adding that Pope leo XIV Knows How it hases to start from zero in a foreign Country. Pachas is hopophul that being an american, pope leo XIV will be better positioned to challenge President Donald Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Agenda.
Sara Izquierdo, 30, Is Peruvian American and A Third-Eyar Medical Student at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Chicago. She ALSO Directs The Student-Let Mobile migrant health Team in the city. Her Parents Own A Peruvian Restaurant Called Taste of Peru in Rogers Park.
Izquiero was with her parents in their living room Watching the announcement of the New Pope Thursday.
“My mom says, ‘ok, he’s coming out,’” Izquier Said. They were shocked when they have prevost. “Wait, he’s the American Candidate,” she Said. And their reactions Escalating kept. “He’s the American Peruvian from Chicago. ‘ We were over the moon. ”
Izquiero Says She Hopes HIS Life Experiences as a US Citizen and a priest in Latin America have giveh him a more informed about assquesting migration.
“I’m hoping that His global experiences really well into negotiating power,” Izquiero Said. She would be to see pope leo XIV be a Strong Voice to Protect Human Rights in the Face of Violations that are being reported in the United States and in El Salvador.
“I’m hoping, as someone going to be leading the catholic chemistry and is now a religious world, he is able to the against that very clearly.”
Adriana Cardona-Maguigad Covers Immigration for WBEZ. Follow her on x @Adrianacardmag.