In a showcase of the Major Santo Toribio Seminar in Mogrovejo, in Chiclayo, two soliders are preserved: one belonged to Pope Francis; The other, whom today is Pope Leo XIV, when he was still a bishop in Peru.
“These liturgical objects symbolize the divine protection and dedication that one owes only to God,” says Fr. Marcos Ballena, administrator and also a seminar trainer since Mons. Prevost assumed the leadership of the diocese, in an interview granted to ACI Press.
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Mons. Robert Prevost, today Pope Leo XIV, was a bishop of the diocese of Chiclayo and left a deep mark on the priestly formation, since, according to Fr. Ballena, as Bishop “he was the main promoter of priestly vocations” in northern Peru.
The Ballena He assures that “the seminar has been a priority of Monsignor Robert, because not only the Chiclayo seminarians are formed, but also of Chota, Chachapoyas and Chimbote.”
“He was also a person worried about the training, that the seminary projects come out, to get books. When we had our retreats … We were dedicated to a meditation to tell the boys where they have to walk,” he recalls.
He also says that then Bishop Prevost “gave his escapes to talk to the deacons … At least once a year he spoke with the seminarians.”
“When there were orders withdrawals to be deacon or to be a priest, he came to give one of the meditations or talks and said: ‘My office is open for all who want to speak.’ His office could be a bench, a waiting room, to his own car,” recalls Fr. Ballena.
Currently, the Chiclayo Seminar welcomes 31 seminarians. It was precisely in this place where the choice of Mons. Prevost as the new Pontiff was lived with special emotion.
The seminarian Fabian Rosado Nolasco was the one who recorded the moment when the seminarians exploded in shouts and jumps when they saw the transmission from Rome. Natural of Piura and member of the Diocese of Chimbote, Fabián shared a very personal memory.
“To me and two other seminarians sent us to the bishopric … we had a little shame, but he said a phrase that has repeated it lately: ‘For you I am the bishop, but with you I am a Christian.’ Then I take a memory of a very close Pope … a father for everyone, who listens to you and that always supports you,” he said.
A few days ago, Fabián received a written message from Pope Leo XIV: “To Fabian, with my blessing.”
Another seminarian, John Sánchez, of the Diocese of Chiclayo, says he met Mons. Prevost being acolyte. “I met him when I was acolyte, the year 2017 … I thought I was a priest, but then they told me: he is the bishop. It was very close with the acolytes, it made us laugh sometimes, I greeted us.”
The vocational impulse of Mons. Prevost also marked his religious order, the order of St. Augustine. Fr. Luis Fernando Oblitas, known as Fray Pipe and A Augustinian religious at the San Agustín de Chiclayo School, was ordained a deacon and priest by the then bishop.
“One day he came for confirmation and said: ‘Monsignor, the priesthood has already approved me, I would like to order me here.’ He said: ‘And who is going to order you?’ And I: ‘You, Monsignor’.
The gesture that marked the most occurred after the ordination mass: “He grabbed me as a surprise because he said: ‘I want to take advantage of my privilege of an ordering bishop and I want to ask for your first blessing.’
Fray Pipe meets Leo XIV since 2012, when today Pontiff was the superior general of the Augustinians. States that the papal motto “At that one one” (In him, which is one, we are one) reflects the Augustinian charism that the Pope has not stopped living: “Unity in the Church.”
On May 31, Pope Leo XIV ordered 11 new priests for the Diocese of Rome in the Basilica of San Pedro. In his homily he said: “Together we will rebuild the credibility of a wounded church, sent to a injured humanity, within an injured creation.”
And he concluded with a phrase that is already emerging as a stamp of his pontificate: “It doesn’t matter to be perfect, but it is necessary to be credible.”
Diego López Marina
I was born in 1991. I have a degree in Communication Sciences. Since 2015 I work as a digital journalist. I started my career in the newspaper El Comercio in Peru. In 2016, I began as editor in ACI Press and I perform as a web editor since 2018. From 2024, I write the Newsletter for Social Media. I specialize in Catholic news focused on the defense of life and family, international politics, technology, popular culture and the Vatican.