{"id":112993,"date":"2025-06-20T12:30:40","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T10:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/?p=112993"},"modified":"2025-06-20T12:30:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T10:30:40","slug":"leon-de-peru-vatican-media-to-release-documentary-on-prevosts-years-of-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/leon-de-peru-vatican-media-to-release-documentary-on-prevosts-years-of-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLe\u00f3n de Per\u00fa\u201d: Vatican Media to release documentary on Prevost\u2019s years of mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Just over a month into the pontificate of Leo XIV, Vatican Media is set to release Le\u00f3n de Per\u00fa (Leo of Peru) on 20 June 2025. This documentary retraces the missionary work of Robert Francis Prevost in Peru.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The documentary is a production of the Editorial Directorate of the Dicastery for Communication and was created by journalists Salvatore Cernuzio, Felipe Herrera-Espaliat, and Jaime Vizca\u00edno Haro.<\/span><\/p>\n

Missionary, parish priest, professor, formator, bishop, friend. A new documentary entitled \u201cLe\u00f3n de Per\u00fa\u201d (Leo of Peru, in Spanish) follows the footsteps of Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV. The documentary reconstructs the years the Augustinian Pope spent in the Latin American country.<\/span><\/p>\n

It unfolds across Chulucanas, Trujillo, Lima, Callao, and Chiclayo, touching small and large cities, villages, districts, suburbs, parishes, schools, and religious houses. In these places, then Father and later Bishop Prevost celebrated Mass, preached, taught, formed religious, met with youth, celebrated birthdays, and practiced active charity amid tragedies like the El Ni\u00f1o floods and the coronavirus pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

His pastoral and social work is glimpsed through the many stories of people who collaborated with the future Pope and who received listening, support, and help from him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Testimonies come from bishops, including the current pastors of Callao and Chulucanas, Augustinian confreres, and parish priests such as the young Fr. Cristophe Ntaganzwa, in the extremely poor district of Pachac\u00fatec, hit hard by Covid-19.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that territory, then Apostolic Administrator Prevost helped unemployed, starving people by sending food and medicine. His was a prompt response, similar to the one he gave as Bishop of Chiclayo, aiding a population devastated by floods\u2014plunging courageously into the flooded streets, as recounted by survivor Roc\u00edo.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chiclayo also offers the testimony of Janina Sesa, former Caritas director, about a campaign to provide oxygen to those in crisis, and Bertha, a cook at one of the comedores (soup kitchens) established in Trujillo by \u201cPadre Roberto\u201d to feed poor families.<\/span><\/p>\n

The film contains many more personal stories: Sylvia, rescued by nuns from a life of prostitution and whose courage inspired Prevost to establish an anti-human trafficking commission; or Hector and his daughter Mildred, for whom the current Pope is godfather.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each of these witnesses shares how they experienced the evening of the\u00a0<\/span>Habemus Papam<\/span><\/i>\u00a0on May 8 and sends a personal message to the Pope.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 5:00 PM (Rome time), the film will premiere on the Vatican News YouTube channel in Spanish, Italian, and English, and will be distributed through other international media outlets.
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Watch the trailer for the documentary below.<\/span><\/p>\n

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