The political crisis was projected onto the international stage when Pope Leo expressed his solidarity with the Peruvian people on 12 October in St Peter’s Square.
The Archbishop of Lima prayed for change in Peruvian society after police violence during a protest left one man dead and another in a coma.
“Peru will have no future without young people,” said Cardinal Carlos Castillo at the traditional procession of the image of Christ as the Lord of Miracles on 18 October.
This followed growing unrest as young protesters organised demonstrations against elite corruption.
The political crisis was projected onto the international stage when Pope Leo expressed his solidarity with the Peruvian people on 12 October in St Peter’s Square.
“I am close to the beloved Peruvian people at this moment of political transition. I pray that Peru may continue in the path of reconciliation, dialogue and national unity,” he said in his Angelus address, two days after the Peruvian Congress removed President Dina Boluarte for “permanent moral incapacity”.
She was replaced by the 38-year-old president of Congress José Ierí, who became Peru’s eighth president in the last nine years.
As protests continued last week, police clashed with demonstrators leaving scores injured.
A man protesters said was a police officer shot dead a 32-year-old hip-hop singer Eduardo Ruíz on 15 October, while another young man was placed in an induced coma after suffering severe injuries.
Cardinal Castillo remembered them at the procession three days later.
“Today is a day of mourning when we pray for the people who have been shamefully taken from this world, and for those injured, where we can feel the presence of desperate negative acts,” he said.
“We ask you, Lord, in your great mercy, that we may be able to better organise the life of our country, respecting every person, every initiative, behave as brothers and sisters and recognise the mistakes we have made.”
A human rights expert told The Tablet that Peru “is governed by mafias who have placed their puppets in Congress with a single mission, to remain in power. These are dark times. It’s a situation that can’t be compared with anything before.”
However, the expert identified the role of young people in protesting against corruption as a sign of hope for Peru.