Pope laments poverty-stricken Inca communities as locals leave Peru

Pope Leo XIV visited Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, where he had served as a missionary, and warned that poverty and migration are putting Andean communities under strain. He spoke of people leaving their homeland for better prospects in coastal cities, and praised those working to create dignified jobs locally.

More than 40 per cent of people in Cajamarca region live in poverty, the highest share in Peru, while about 729,000 people born there now live elsewhere. Leo also cited falling birth rates and unequal distribution of resources; he had hoped to visit the more remote town of Incahuasi, but the trip proved difficult to arrange. His South American tour also took him to former places of service in Chiclayo and Zana, where he spoke about slavery, discrimination, crime and insecurity.