The Archdiocese of Cusco announced his death in a statement published on social media, expressing its “profound sadness” at his passing.
His death comes just days before Pope Leo XIV’s arrival in the Peruvian city on November 15, a visit for which the archbishop had been making preparations.
Deep sorrow expressed by the Coadjutor Archbishop of Cusco
Archbishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera, who was appointed by Pope Leo XIV as Coadjutor Archbishop of Cusco on August 29, expressed his “deep sorrow at the sad passing.”
He joined Archbishop Alarcón Urrutia’s family and loved ones in mourning “this irreparable loss” and offered prayers “that God, in His infinite mercy, may welcome him into His Kingdom and grant him eternal rest.”
Archbishop Alarcón Urrutia’s health had suddenly deteriorated in recent days. His body is lying in state at Cusco’s Cathedral, where hundreds of faithful are gathering to pay their final respects to the Archbishop, according to the archdiocese’s statement.
Archbishop Alarcón Urrutia was born in Lima on April 10, 1952. He entered the Franciscan Order in 1969, was ordained a priest in 1976, and received episcopal ordination in 2001.
On October 27, 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Cusco, a position he began on January 3, 2015.
His funeral will take place this Sunday, November 1, at the city's cathedral.
The Peruvian Bishops' Conference joins in prayer
“With great sorrow, but with hope in the Resurrection, the Peruvian Bishops' Conference announces to all the People of God the sad passing of Richard Daniel Alarcón Urrutia, Metropolitan Archbishop of Cusco, who departed for the House of the Heavenly Father on Friday, October 30,” the statement released by the Peruvian Bishops' Conference read.
The Conference said it “joins in prayer” with the Archdiocese of Cusco, the Coadjutor Archbishop Estrada Herrera, as well as the clergy, religious men and women, the faithful, and his family, “asking the Lord of Life to welcome into His Kingdom of light and peace the man who was a dedicated servant of His Church.”