Pope Leo XIV, when he was bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, offered a special prayer of consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary before the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima, whose feast day the Catholic Church celebrates on May 13.

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On Jan. 7, 2019, after having requested a year earlier that the Marian image be brought to Chiclayo from the Fátima shrine in Portugal, then-Bishop Robert Prevost offered a special Mass in St. Mary’s Cathedral that was attended by a large number of faithful.

“My memory of the January 2019 consecration is that the bishop [Prevost] agreed to it very easily, out of love for the Virgin. I remember that we priests were on a retreat and we asked him for permission so that we too could receive the image and consecrate ourselves, and he agreed,” said Father Jorge Millán Cotrina, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Chiclayo, in a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

“It was very moving because here in Chiclayo, the people are very Marian. The city of Chiclayo’s original name is Our Lady of the Valleys of Chiclayo, which the Franciscans gave it in the 16th century,” he continued.

“The pope is devoted to the Virgin Mary, but not under any specific title of hers, although it may be the Mother of Good Counsel, whom he recently went to venerate in Italy.” However, he also celebrated Masses for “Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel,” due to the great Marian devotion of the people of Chiclayo.

Regarding the election of Cardinal Prevost as the successor of St. Peter, Millán said that when he saw the announcement, he experienced “a tremendous, indescribable emotion” and a cause of “great joy, great peace, and a soul open to hope, because there are always little things that are confusing, and knowing that he will be there gives us a certain hope that things will be better.”

“Not because of him, but because of his personality, because of his docility to the things of God, to the Holy Spirit,” he clarified.

The priest also commented that when he heard Pope Leo XIV mention his “beloved diocese of Chiclayo” from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, “many of us were brought to tears.”

Below is the prayer of consecration that Pope Leo XIV recited before the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima when he was bishop of Chiclayo:

“I, Robert Francis Prevost Martínez, make this day an act of consecration, repentance, [asking] forgiveness, and reparation to God for all the transgressions that have occurred in Peru.

“I do this before God and for those who have sought to eliminate the Catholic faith in times past and present. I ask for forgiveness, and through this act of [seeking] forgiveness, we want this consecration to be a reason to encourage us to seek in Peru the conversion and unity we so very much need, and that only comes from God.

“Through this act of repentance, [seeking] forgiveness, and reparation to God, I renew the consecration of Peru, united with the dioceses, parishes, priests, deacons, seminarians, men and women religious, and laypeople to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“I wish, in this way, to consecrate and surrender to God all that we are and all that we have, and receive in turn his everlasting love and protection for every person and every family in Peru.

“And let us say together, Hail Mary…”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

HOW TO SEE THE HOLY FATHER POPE LEO XIV: EWTN TRAVEL JUBILEE APP