A red-carpet arrival in Lima

The pope's charter plane, an Aerolíneas Argentinas aircraft, touched down at a Lima-area air base, where President Keiko Fujimori was waiting to welcome him. Leo emerged smiling broadly, greeted the president and embraced two children carrying flowers before acknowledging the crowd on the tarmac.

• •Thousands lined the streets along his motorcade route, waving Peruvian and Holy See flags
• •Hundreds more waited in front of Lima's presidential palace, where a stage and giant screens had been set up
• •Security around the palace was tight as the crowds gathered

A country decked out for its pope

The tribute to the peruvian pope began before his plane landed. In the port of El Callao, a 46-foot (14-metre) statue of the pontiff was unveiled ahead of the visit. In the capital, baristas were serving cappuccinos decorated with the image of the pope.

In Chiclayo, the northern city where the former Robert Prevost spent years as bishop, Leo appears everywhere. His face is painted in colourful murals, emblazoned on T-shirts and baseball hats, and rendered in bobblehead dolls.

What the itinerary holds

The papal itinerary in Peru runs from the north to the Andes:

• •Mass at the sanctuary of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo in Zaña, a hub of Afro-Peruvian culture and a place Leo often visited to pray
• •A speech from the square in front of Lima's cathedral "on the challenges and hopes for the future of the Peruvian people"
• •A trip to Pucallpa, in Peru's Amazon, to celebrate Mass in honour of Indigenous peoples
• •Meetings with popular groups of faithful and representatives of local traditions in Cusco, the capital of the Inca empire near Machu Picchu
• •Mass in Cusco's main square, where the Indigenous hero Túpac Amaru II was killed in 1781 after the most significant rebellion against Spanish colonial rule

Why the welcome runs so deep

The pope says Peru taught him what it means to be a shepherd. For the crowds in Lima, the feeling is personal. Anni Marino, 52, waiting outside the presidential palace, said: "It's so beautiful and so moving... I hold it in my heart because he's the representative of God."

That is how Zuly Castillo, who served as Leo's secretary when he was bishop of Chiclayo, described her feelings as the pope returned.

Rolando Pérez, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, said the pope's return inspires great hope among Peruvians who feel abandoned by the state. "Deeply etched in the public consciousness is the image of a shepherd who stood by the people," Pérez said.

The pope continues his itinerary with the Mass for Indigenous peoples in Pucallpa and his meetings and Mass in Cusco.