Many people called him the second pope from the region after his predecessor Francis, Argentina, celebrated in Latin America.

The news sparked a special excitement in Peru, where he lived and worked for more than 20 years and obtained citizenship in 2015. In the capital, Lima, the cathedral bells celebrate.

Leo Xiv briefly turned from Italian to Spanish during his first appearance on the Vatican balcony to “from the diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, in the diocese of Chiclayo in Peru”, where he had been bishop for more than a decade.

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte praised Leo Xiv’s “historic” election, which she described as Peru’s “choice and belief” that served the country for more than 20 years. Prevost, 69, "chooses to be one of us, live among us, and cheer up the faith, culture and dreams of this country."

She added: "The Pope is Peru; God loves Peru."

Even so, Prevost has been against Boluarte's government in the past. In early 2023, he described the “sadness and pain” of 49 protesters during the anti-government demonstrations that broke out when Boluarte took office in December 2022, replacing Pedro Castillo, who was forced to attempt to suspend Congress.

At the time, Prest said the turmoil reflected the historic neglect of Peru’s poor, saying: “This conflict does not represent the best in the United States.”

Rosa María Vílchez, 49, originally from Chiclayo, but now lives in Lima and met with Prevost while attending church service a few years ago.

"We knew him by name," she recalled. "Today, I remembered that when I saw him, I really wanted to cry because he moved me."

She added: "I hope he can bring a little peace so that he can stabilize the country somehow because Peruvians are mainly very faithful and very Catholic. So I think he will be a figure of political authority."

Cecilia Durand, 55, said: "I'm not a Catholic, and I actually have a lot of things to do with the church, but I think it's a good thing for Peru. It's like winning the World Cup!"

As news of Leo's election began to sink, Peru's social media was flooded with ceviche by the pope, Peru's flagship dishes, and memes drinking Inca kola, its bubblegum-fuel-flavored soft drink. Others were showing him in Peruvian red and white football shirts, another humorous image showed popemobile reinvented into a tricycle rickshaw, the main mode of transportation for most of the country.

Colombia's Interior Minister Armando Benedetti posted on social media that the years spent in Peru "meaning that the new pope is Latino again."

Some posts on social media joked that the new pope “has more Latinos than Emilia Pérez’s entire cast”, referring to the French film that sparked controversy over the portrayal of Mexico.

Prevost first came to Peru in 1985 and joined Augustin's mission in Augustinian on the Chulucanas near the border with Ecuador until 1986. He returned in 1986. He returned in 1988 and over the next decade, as head of the Augustine Seminary of Trujillo, in Trujillo, the third largest city in the country, he was the third in the north and his judges in the North Court and judges.

He returned to the United States in 1998 and was elected as the province of Augustine, Chicago. He did not return to Peru until 2014 when Pope Francis appointed him as the Acts Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo. The following year, he was appointed Bishop of the City. By 2023, he was promoted to Archbishop and then appointed Cardinal in 2024.

Janinna Sesa met Prevost while working at the Catholic charity Caritas, who said he was the type to "put on boots and go through muddy mud" to help most people in need - like in 2022, when the storm affected Chiclayo and nearby villages.

She told the Associated Press that he also delivered food and blankets to remote Andean villages, drove a white pickup truck and slept on thin mattresses on the floor.

Observers say Prest has a difficult relationship with Catholic rights in Peru, especially the far-right Catholic denomination in Peru, which has a strong presence in the area where he works. Before Francis' death, Pope Francis dissolved Suca Chemis, following a 50-year history of sexual, psychological and physical abuse, and charged malfeasance and corruption.