Perumin 2025: Archbishop shares historical message from Pope Leo XIV to Miners in Peru

The Archbishop of Arequipa, Mons. Javier del Río Alba, shared the “historical” message that Pope Leo XIV sent to the “Perumin” mining convention in Peru, encouraging the commitment to justice, solidarity, respect for the environment and the common good.

The 37th edition of “Perumin”, the largest mining convention in Peru and Latin America and one of the most important in the region, brought together from September 22 to 26 in the city of Arequipa to businessmen, investors, professionals, suppliers and government representatives to discuss the challenges and opportunities of mining, the main economic activity of the country.

The event organized by the Institute of Mining Engineers of Peru (IIMP), together with the Minera Technological Exhibition (Extemin), “which are held in parallel, constitute the second most important event in the mining sector worldwide,” says the prelate.

The event is held when illegal mining expands more and more in the country. According to Data from the Presidency of the Council of Ministerspublished in July of this year, in the country there are more than 19 million hectares destroyed by this illegal activity and, only between 2023 and 2025, more than 7.5 billion soles in taxes, about 2,150 million dollars, were ceased to pay.

The “historical” message from Pope León to Perumin

According to a note from the Archbishopric of Arequipa sent to ACI Press, Mons. Del Río read the Pope’s message, which was shared through the Apostolic Nuncio in Peru.

Leo XIV expressed his confidence that “these days of qualified reflection on the problem of the Peruvian mining industry and the particular needs of those who work in the mining sector, feed in all participants a renewed commitment to the service of justice, solidarity, respect for the environment and the common good.”

The Pontiff, who was Apostolic Administrator and Bishop of Chiclayo between 2014 and 2023, also asked the Lord to hold his work with his grace and give them the implored apostolic blessing. “

The word of the Archbishop of Arequipa

“This message is historical, because it is the first time that a Pope sends a message to an edition of Perumin. I had the honor of reading it before doing the inaugural prayer of the event and participating in it with a delegation composed of representatives of various religious confessions, in an equally historical event since it has also been the first time that the organizers invite a delegation of this type,” shares Mons.

His participation was given, he explains, “within the framework of the Initiative for Reflections on Faith and Mining, which has its origin in a meeting held in the Vatican in 2013, in whose second edition, in 2015, Pope Francis participated.”

This initiative, highlighted the prelate, aims to “promote dialogue and reflection, illuminated by faith, among representatives of various religions and leaders of the mining sector, in search of a better participation of mining in favor of the common good of society.”

The initiative was presented on the second day of the Convention to the representatives of more than a dozen large mining companies, and the third day was presented to the entire Convention.

In the event there was also an exhibition of Santa Rosa de Lima, First Santa de América and Patroness of Mining, declared with this patronage in April 1996, during the Pontificate of San Juan Pablo II.