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Prevost, who had previously been the Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, was only made an archbishop and then cardinal in 2023.

Smiling, he continued: "A greeting to all and in particular to my dear Diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru."

The first American pope is a citizen of Peru and has spent much of his life there, travelling between the two countries for decades until 2014, when Pope Francis appointed him bishop of the Chiclayo Diocese in the country's north.

Prevost would often say that he had "come from Chicago to Chiclayo – the only difference is a few letters," Diana Celis, who attended several Masses officiated by the then Bishop Robert Prevost, told the Associated Press news agency.

Then, in 2014, Pope Francis appointed Prevost bishop of Chiclayo, a position he assumed the following year, after becoming a Peruvian citizen.