‘Peruvian pope’ Leo XIV comes home to a country that shaped his life and faith through 'hardship'

François Picard is pleased to welcome Victor Casallo, Director of the Department of Philosophical and Theological Studies at Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University.

Can a Pope shaped by Peru's history of political violence, social inequality and religious activism help a deeply polarized nation heal and rediscover the possibility of dialogue?

"We tend to see the other person not as someone who holds a different opinion, but as an enemy." Casallo argues that Pope Leo, the first American-born pontiff's identity cannot be understood through his Chicago origins alone.