Chiclayo priest eagerly awaits his friend, Pope Leo XIV, in Peru

The last time Father Hugo Gabriel Sánchez met Robert Prevost in Chiclayo, Peru, the future pope had just been created a cardinal. In just a few days, that friend, who wishes Sánchez a happy birthday every year and with whom he shared “hearty laughter” when he was Sánchez’s bishop, will return to Peru as pontiff.

A historic visit Pope Leo will be in Peru from Nov. 11–16, a historic visit that Sánchez described as “a gift from God.” For him, Prevost’s election has meant “a change in the color of his cassock: He remains the same close friend as always, attentive to us and concerned for our well-being.”

Serenity, trust in providence, clarity, and firmness are, in the priest’s view, some of the traits that best define Leo XIV.

Speaking with EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, he also recalled that “Bishop Roberto reflected very well the image of Christ the good shepherd: a shepherd who was always close to his people, whose doors were always open and, above all, whose heart was ready and whose time was available to listen to you patiently and calmly. He knew how to offer wise answers that did not remain merely words but were translated into…