Pope Leo mourns Archbishop Richard Alarcón of Cusco

Vatican News

In a message sent on Saturday to Bishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera, OSA, Pope Leo XIV extended his condolences to the family of Archbishop Richard Daniel Alarcón Urrutia and to the clergy, religious, and faithful of the local Church.

Recalling the late Archbishop of Cusco as a “selfless pastor,” Pope Leo prayed for the eternal repose of his soul and entrusted him to the maternal intercession of Our Lady of Bethlehem, “Mamacha Belén.”

Looking ahead to his visit to Cusco on November 15, the Pope expressed his desire to pray alongside the community. He imparted his Apostolic Blessing to all those mourning the Archbishop’s death, as a sign of Christian hope in the Risen Christ.

He passed away on Friday, October 30, at the age of 74, following a long illness.

The Archdiocese of Cusco announced his death in a statement published on social media, expressing its “profound sadness” at his passing.

His death comes just days before Pope Leo XIV’s arrival in the Peruvian city on November 15, a visit for which the Archbishop had been making preparations.

Deep sorrow expressed by new Archbishop of Cusco

Archbishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera, now Archbishop of Cusco, whom Pope Leo XIV appointed as Coadjutor Archbishop of Cusco on August 29, expressed his “deep sorrow at the sad passing.”

He joined Archbishop Alarcón Urrutia’s family and loved ones in mourning “this irreparable loss” and offered prayers “that God, in His infinite mercy, may welcome him into His Kingdom and grant him eternal rest.”

Archbishop Alarcón Urrutia’s health had suddenly deteriorated in recent days. His body is lying in state at Cusco’s Cathedral, where hundreds of faithful are gathering to pay their final respects to the Archbishop, according to the archdiocese’s statement.

Archbishop Alarcón Urrutia was born in Lima on April 10, 1952. He entered the Franciscan Order in 1969, was ordained a priest in 1976, and received episcopal ordination in 2001.

On October 27, 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Cusco, a position he began on January 3, 2015.

His funeral will take place this Sunday, November 1, at the city's cathedral.

Peruvian Bishops' Conference joins in prayer

“With great sorrow, but with hope in the Resurrection, the Peruvian Bishops' Conference announces to all the People of God the sad passing of Richard Daniel Alarcón Urrutia, Metropolitan Archbishop of Cusco, who departed for the House of the Heavenly Father on Friday, October 30,” the statement released by the Peruvian Bishops' Conference read.

The Conference said it “joins in prayer” with the Archdiocese of Cusco, Archbishop Estrada Herrera, as well as the clergy, religious men and women, the faithful, and his family, “asking the Lord of Life to welcome into His Kingdom of light and peace the man who was a dedicated servant of His Church.”