Priest's book on Pope Leo XIV's years in Peru presented in Buenos Aires

Peruvian priest David Farfán Guerrero recently presented his book Huellas de Pastor (Footprints of a Shepherd) at the auditorium of Banco Macro's corporate headquarters in Buenos Aires. Farfán Guerrero is pastor of the church of San Toribio de Mogrovejo in the town of Zaña, Peru. The event brought Pope Leo XIV's human, spiritual and missionary life to an Argentine audience, days before the pope's visit to Argentina, Uruguay and Peru.

Jorge Brito, the president of Banco Macro, an Argentine bank, moderated the event, which covered the stages of Robert Francis Prevost's life: his years of formation in Chicago, his pastoral work in Chiclayo and his later move to Rome, up to his election as pope. Farfán Guerrero recounted little-known episodes about a pastor focused on personal relationships, on support for the most vulnerable and on listening as a practical expression of faith.

A portrait of humanity: the pastor of the peripheries

Huellas de Pastor, published by Editorial San Pablo Internacional, presents Leo XIV not as a distant or institutional figure but as a man of flesh and blood. It describes him as a lawyer who brought a human touch to the law and a missionary who found that the peripheries were the natural ground of his vocation. The book gathers direct memories and first-hand testimony from the period between December 12, 2014, and the moment Prevost was called to the Vatican.

"It was fitting that someone should speak from the reality of those of us who witnessed part of his life, especially in that period, which reflects the essence of the book," Farfán Guerrero said. One passage he recounted at the presentation concerned a girl whose family received the food aid that Prevost, then a bishop, handed out himself. Seeing his face on a television set in a shop window, she recognized him at once and said: "The man who always brought us food is on TV!"

Evangelization through genuine encounter

The book also describes how Prevost dealt with young people in Chiclayo. Rather than imposing meaningless sacrifices on them, he offered them ways to take part: sports competitions in which he played himself, training workshops, outings and trips to the beach on Peru's northern coast. Rock concerts also had a place in his pastoral work. The book presents this as rooted in a conviction that evangelization begins with real encounter and takes hold when the other person feels genuinely heard and recognized.

Admiration for San Martín and friendship with Francis

The presentation closed with two accounts linking Leo XIV to Argentina. The first involves General José de San Martín. When Prevost applied for his Peruvian documents, he had to pass a history examination that taught him about the Liberator in detail. His admiration led him to say he wished to pay tribute to San Martín in Argentina by laying flowers at the monument in Plaza San Martín.

The second concerns Pope Francis. According to Farfán Guerrero, Robert Prevost and Jorge Bergoglio met in Buenos Aires in 2004 during a Mass at the church of San Agustín. From that first meeting, and from later gestures on both sides, they built a friendship that lasted over the years.

The author: theologian and pastor in Zaña

David Farfán Guerrero was born in Piura, Peru, and was ordained a priest in 2001. His vocation first took shape with the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, an experience that shaped his view of a Church that goes out. He holds a master's degree in spiritual theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Since 2015 he has been pastor of the parish of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo in Zaña, a historic town where his pastoral work brings together theology, faith and commitment to the community.

Huellas de Pastor is distributed through the San Pablo bookstores.