Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, archbishop of Lima, is back in Rome. Cipriani held various meetings in the Vatican and saw Pope Francis to thank him for his visit to Peru.
CARD. JUAN LUIS CIPRIANI
Archbishop of Lima
“I've been with him these past days. He seems very happy. We recalled wonderful moments in Puerto Maldonado, Trujillo and Lima. The truth is he told me again he was so moved by the faith of the people, as I also am. It's a people of faith.”
According to the cardinal, what surprised the pope most was the faith of the common people who waited for hours to see him pass by in the streets. The final day, throughout Pope Francis' 16-mile trip to the airport, there was no free space.
CARD. JUAN LUIS CIPRIANI
Archbishop of Lima
“He told us he could almost touch the faith of the Peruvian people showed. What do we want? We want that faith to also be reflected in the rules, the laws, in that work he's launching throughout the world, for ecology, for the family, for the respect of people's dignity, for care for the poor.”
One of the pope's recurring themes throughout his visit to Peru was unity. The cardinal says the message is what impacted people most after the trip.
CARD. JUAN LUIS CIPRIANI
Archbishop of Lima
“In Peru, not only in the Church but also in politics, in society, an effort must be made to put aside differences and difficulties to learn to understand one another as a family. I think it's a great challenge for the Church to demonstrate our unity to that wonderful people.”
The 74-year-old cardinal now returns to Lima. He says another result of the trip was getting 30,000 young people involved as volunteers in preparation. Now, he hopes many of them will go to see the pope at World Youth Day in Panama a year from now.
