June is the month of the Sacred Heart for Catholics, and now a South American nation is adding yet another great reason to celebrate. Peru, former home of Pope Leo XIV, just passed a law making June the official “Month of Life and the Family” throughout the nation.
According to Law No. 32671, the Peruvian national legislature declared:
The month of June of each year is declared the Month of Life and the Family, in commemoration of life and the importance of the family as a natural and fundamental institution of society.
Previously, Peru honored “Family Day” on the second Sunday of September, but this month-long celebration will replace the earlier national holiday.
A Catholic nation celebrates life
Peru is home to a large Catholic community — roughly 80% of the population according to a 2007 survey. The Catholic faith arrived in Peru in the 1500s and became an integral part of Peruvian cultural identity; at one time it was even the official state religion.
The new celebration of “Life and Family Month” comes at a time of great religious significance for Peruvians, as they annually honor the Feast of Corpus Christi in late May or early June. This beloved festival blends the traditional Catholic celebration with vibrant Andean cultural heritage, as 15 magnificent statues of saints and the Virgin Mary are paraded through the Plaza de Armas to meet the monstrance housing the Blessed Sacrament.
Early June is also when Peruvians mark the anniversary of the Eucharistic Miracle of Eten in 1649, when the Divine Child appeared on a consecrated host in Chiclayo province — an important regional devotion.
And of course, our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, served for nearly four decades in Peru before his election to the See of St. Peter. He has held dual American-Peruvian citizenship since 2015, and was bishop of Chiclayo before becoming pope.
Potential plans are underway for him to visit Peru in November of this year. He is expected to spend 8 to 10 days there, making stops in his former diocese of Chiclayo, in the capital city of Lima, Piura, Pucallpa, and a number of “small towns in the north and also in the jungle.”
