BOSTON -- As Pope Leo XIV appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as the church's 267th successor of St. Peter on the evening of May 8, he was visibly emotional as he greeted the crowds, addressing in Spanish the people of Chiclayo, Peru, whom he called "a faithful people, who accompanied their bishop, shared their faith, and have given so, so much to continue being the faithful church of Jesus Christ."

Julio Cesar Flores, a parishioner at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in East Boston who hails from Lima, Peru, told The Pilot May 11 that he was both grateful and surprised that Pope Leo XIV mentioned Peru during his opening speech.

"A pope who was not born in Peru but became a Peruvian citizen is greeting Chiclayo during his first appearance because he found affection in its people. That's special," he said.

Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago-born Augustinian, was granted Peruvian citizenship in 2015 after decades of working and living there, a missionary journey that commenced in the mid-1980s, shortly after his ordination to the priesthood. He briefly returned to the U.S. in 1987 to serve the Augustinian Province of Chicago as director of vocations and missions before being called once more to missionary service in the South American nation in 1988, where he would eventually become the Bishop of Chiclayo.

Many Peruvians in the Archdiocese of Boston -- and around the world -- beamed with pride for Pope Leo XIV's election, as they regard him as one of their own.

Luis Miranda, a young adult at St. Patrick's Parish in Brockton, described it as "surreal" that such a central figure in the Catholic church is so "related, so close to my home country of Peru."

"I am grateful to know that the pope has ties to Peru and that he has done so much amazing work in my country," he said on May 11.

Indeed, his missionary work left a lasting impression on Peruvians, with Flores saying that, as he read more about the life of Pope Leo XIV, he became aware of the profoundness of his mission: "he gave his life for the people in my country," he stated.

"I understood that he was a people's priest, carrying the sheep, carrying the misery of the world, and walking among the poor because, in Peru, there is a lot of poverty," he said.

Jose Leonarte, a parishioner at Sacred Hearts in Malden, also reflected on the impact of Pope Leo XIV's missionary work.

"The experiences he has had in poor places . . . Like distant areas of Trujillo, Chiclayo, and almost across all of northern Peru, during moments in which the country's provinces and departments were going through tough periods, it fills us -- Peruvians here in the United States -- with pride and gratitude to God," he said May 12.

Sacred Hearts boasts one of the largest Peruvian communities in the archdiocese, with Leonarte describing his community's reaction at the election of a Peruvian citizen pope as "serene" and "hopeful.''

"Pope Leo's election helps not just us Peruvians but all South Americans because we have a pope who has seen and has had the experience of knowing what solidarity is, what diversity is, what it means to be emotionally close to those who need help the most," Leonarte said.

Deacon Victor Rivero, of Most Holy Redeemer Parish in East Boston, said May 12 that, when he heard about the news, he thought "'Good, now we have a new representative of Christ in the church.'"

"Then, I heard he was Peruvian, which made me exclaim, 'What?'" he said, adding that, when he learned the new pope was born in Chicago but with decades of missionary work in Peru, it filled him with "great joy."