Peru was more than a mission field for Robert Prevost. It was a crucible where spiritual reality, beauty, danger, and the miraculous all pressed upon a man formed to be a shepherd. As friends on this journey, we can walk through three moments from his Peruvian life—some ordinary and some that verge on supernatural—and see what they tell us about Pope Leo XIV.

One of the most striking supernatural markers in his ministry was his promotion of the Eucharistic Miracle in Etén. For centuries, the faithful in Etén have believed that in a consecrated host Christ made Himself visibly present in a miraculous manner. Over 370 years there has been continuous devotion. In 2019, then-Bishop Prevost officially presented to the Vatican a dossier—more than 20,000 testimonies—seeking formal recognition of the miracle.¹ He described the devotion as an expression of popular faith that must be respected and fostered.² The resonance of this event is not about spectacle, but about holiness, history, faith, and the longing for Christ in the Eucharist meeting in the lives of ordinary people.

Another lived experience borders on heroism and spiritual witness. In Chulucanas, during the 1980s, Peru was being torn by internal conflict. Guerrilla movements like the Sendero Luminoso were active, and violence was widespread. Prevost, working as a young priest, was warned to leave or risk being killed. A bomb attack even destroyed the church door. ³ Yet he stayed. Not because he was reckless, but because he believed his presence mattered. Locals recall his willingness to share risk, to live simply, to pray in chapels with broken windows, to walk flooded streets with his parishioners. ⁴ These acts were not supernatural in the sense of miracles, but they carried a supernatural witness of sacrificial love, presence in darkness, and trust in God amid fear.

The more subtle supernatural is found in the way he carried daily spirituality into hardship. While serving poor and remote communities, Prevost was known to pray the rosary during long journeys, to celebrate Mass wherever possible, and to bring consolation to families in times of poverty and disease. During the pandemic, when churches were shuttered, he took the consecrated host to the streets of Chiclayo on the feast of Corpus Christi. From the back of a truck, he offered Eucharistic presence to the faithful who could not attend Mass—especially the shut-in, the elderly, and the frail. ⁵ In moments like that, we glimpse the supernatural “already here”: Christ walking with His people in simplicity, through ordinary gestures.

Reflection

As friends, we might ask together: do the truly supernatural events come in miracles, or in the humble fidelity that keeps Christ present in daily life? In Peru, both kinds met in Robert Prevost, leaving a lasting imprint on the man who would become Pope Leo XIV.

Intersection of faith & reason. Human virtue, courage, service for the other. Suffering servant

Watching Leo celebrate the Mass, evident, elevates the Host, profound faith motivates him. Something inspirational, beauty, love for the Mass. carried him through dangers in Pru. Possibility of the miraculous.

TA what our senses fail to fathom, let us grasp by faiths ascent. Every so often, our Lord gives us sensible sign, profound act of grace.

Leo believes both from faith and miraculous experience, material element.

Eucharist processions, profound for any priest to carry it into the world. A lens of hope.

No screed on Leo. His Eucharist piety prevented my intellectual honest appraisal.

Notes

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