Last month, Sewanee Professor of History, former Peruvian Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, and Guggenheim Fellow Carmen McEvoy met Pope Leo XIV during a special audience at the Vatican.

As part of a group of Peruvian scholars working on a project marking 200 years of Peru-U.S. relations, McEvoy wrote to request the meeting, hoping to thank the pope for his decades of service to Peru. The encounter was deeply personal. Before becoming pope, Leo XIV spent nearly 30 years in northern Peru, supporting marginalized communities, building community kitchens, and serving as a seminary professor. Later, as bishop of Chiclayo, he continued that work—and even became a Peruvian citizen, a moment the country proudly celebrated.

During their meeting, McEvoy presented several books—including one with a Sewanee connection: “Sewanee Poems” by alumnus Richard Tillinghast, C’62. “It was a joyful moment,” McEvoy says, “meeting my fellow (dual) citizen who is now defending peace, humanity, and justice around the world.”

Photo courtesy of Vatican Media