Peru Catholic Officials Hold Ceremony Apologizing for Indigenous Land Loss

The event addressed land disputes that began at least a decade earlier when companies connected to a now-dissolved Catholic group initiated legal actions to evict residents from thousands of hectares.

Dozens of farmers faced prosecution for alleged usurpation, and two community leaders were killed during clashes tied to the eviction efforts. The group was dissolved in 2025 by the late Pope Francis following a Vatican investigation that documented sexual abuses by its founder, financial mismanagement, and spiritual abuses.

Statements at the Ceremony “We are here to ask for your forgiveness in the name of the Church,” said Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, the apostolic commissioner overseeing the dissolution process. “We are late. We should have come 20 years ago, and we are truly sorry,” Bertomeu added.

” Tania Pariona, secretary of Peru’s National Human Rights Commission, described the ceremony as a historic gesture in which the church took the lead over the state. The ceremony occurred months after the Peruvian Episcopal Conference announced a possible visit by Pope Leo XIV to Peru later in the year.