Jubilant Peruvians celebrate new pope at mass

Thousands of Catholics gathered on Saturday for an outdoor mass in the Peruvian city of Chiclayo to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, who for years lived, ate and prayed among them.

- 

Chiclayo - Thousands of Catholics gathered on Saturday for an outdoor mass in the Peruvian city of Chiclayo to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, who for years lived, ate and prayed among them.

The first American head of the Catholic Church spent nine years in the commercial hub along the Pacific coast, where he is claimed as one of their own.

Chiclayo "is a simple town that he loved deeply and that he continues to carry in his heart", Chiclayo Bishop Edinson Farfan told a packed congregation at St Mary's Cathedral.

Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, first set foot in Peru four decades ago as a missionary.