# Pope Leo XIV draws more than 50,000 Peruvian youths to a soccer stadium: ‘Be passionate about everything worth fighting for’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/pope-leo-xiv-draws-more-than-50000-peruvian-youths-to-a-soccer-stadium-be-passionate-about-everything-worth-fighting-for/
- Published: 2026-11-13T10:40:11+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-13T12:40:57+00:00
- Original publisher: El País (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-11-13/pope-leo-xiv-draws-more-than-50000-peruvian-youths-to-a-soccer-stadium-be-passionate-about-everything-worth-fighting-for.html
- Topics: Americas, Football, Sport, World

## Key points

- More than 50,000 young people welcomed Pope Leo XIV in Lima.
- The gathering included practising Catholics and others drawn by his visit.
- Lima’s archbishop remembered two young men killed during 2020 protests.

## Summary

More than 50,000 young people gathered at Lima’s National Stadium to see Pope Leo XIV, who spent two decades serving in Peru before becoming pope. The gathering brought together Catholic pastoral groups and young people who do not necessarily practise the faith, as Leo offered messages of hope and acknowledged wounds the Church has yet to heal.

The crowd came from Peru’s coast, highlands and jungle, filling the stands and pitch with flags, phone lights and requests for blessings and prayers. Lima’s Archbishop Carlos Castillo remembered Inti Sotelo and Bryan Pintado, two 20-year-olds killed during the 2020 protests, and described how young people turned to dance as an expression of hope after the repression.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.