By MARY STADNYK
Associate Editor
For nearly 12 years, Father Peter James Alindogan, in his position as diocesan director of missions, has traveled the world, visiting mission countries and bringing the message of God’s abundant love to others, especially to those in need.
So, it’s no wonder that when Father Alindogan learned about Pope Leo XIV’s background as a missionary priest, he felt he had forged an instantaneous, unspoken and treasured bond with the newly elected Holy Father.
Though he had never encountered Pope Leo and wasn’t aware of the years he served in Peru, Father Alindogan believes the Holy Father’s experience in Peru will have a “tremendous impact on the missionary efforts of our Church.
“Pope Leo XIV is a walking example of a missionary pope,” Father Alindogan said. “He is the first pope in recent memory who was embedded in the mission field. The mission territory of Peru, where he was assigned, nurtured his ministry and brought vigor to his vocation and zeal as an Augustinian missionary priest and bishop.”
Father Alindogan anticipates Pope Leo’s missionary experience will benefit the exposure and consistent help of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, which is one of the arms of The Pontifical Missions Society. He explained that through donations facilitated by the Mission Office and universally held on World Mission Sunday, “that dioceses throughout the world benefit well from our financial contributions and donations.
“The Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, where then-Bishop Prevost was the Ordinary, is one of those dioceses,” he said.
Father Alindogan commended the former Bishop Prevost for accepting the challenge to become a missionary and serve in a foreign land where he had to blend in with a custom and tradition different than his own.
“Language and culture are the underlying barriers,” he said. “What Pope Leo IXV exemplified is the missionary challenge of our Lord – to spread the Gospel of Salvation to the ends of the earth.
“The Diocese of Chiclayo may not be the end of the earth, but it is one of the most remote places in Peru,” he said. He noted that the Diocese is 479 miles from the capital city; a 12.5 hour drive, and a South American country with 20 percent of its people living in poverty.
“It is my hope that Pope Leo XIV will be the bridge between the lambs and the lions in our Church, as the Book of Revelation stated,” Father Alindogan said. “There are two strong points that the Church needs in these times: adherence to law of the Church and financial responsibility and concerns.
“As a canon lawyer and a math major, our Pope is able to handle them extraordinarily. His observable humility in his reserved silence will also follow through some of the noteworthy aspects of Pope Francis – inclusivity, synodality and mercy.”