Señor de los Milagros
Annual October Catholic procession in Lima, Peru, drawing very large crowds.
PAHO named Lima's October Señor de los Milagros processions on 24 September 2026 as a measles transmission risk, after Peru added 190 cases in a fortnight, more than Guatemala.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026
Timeline for Señor de los Milagros
Mentioned in: Peru overtakes Guatemala on new measles
Pandemics and BiosecurityBackground
Señor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles) is a Catholic devotion in Lima, Peru, and its October processions rank among the largest Catholic processions in the world. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, dressed in purple, follow the image through the city. Processions run on the first weekend of October, on 18, 19 and 28 October, and on 1 November.
The devotion centres on a 17th-century mural of the crucified Christ, painted by an enslaved African in Lima and kept in the Sanctuary of Las Nazarenas. The mural survived earthquakes in 1655, 1687 and 1746 that levelled much of the city.
Its scale makes it a public-health concern in an outbreak year. In 2026 PAHO listed the festivities alongside Pope Leo XIV's November visit as mass gatherings that could spread measles in Peru. Brazil shows the stakes: it lost its measles elimination certificate in 2019 after a single chain of spread ran for more than a year.
The processions arrive during a measles surge
The Pan American Health Organization's measles report of 24 September 2026 flagged the October festivities, and Pope Leo XIV's visit to Peru in November, as mass gatherings that could increase measles transmission. An airborne virus such as measles spreads easily when unvaccinated pilgrims stand packed together for hours.
The warning lands as Peru's outbreak gathers pace. Peru's 190 new cases in the two weeks to 12 September outpaced Guatemala's 176, and PAHO is backing Peru's response in Puno and Arequipa. Region-wide, measles was running at 3.8 times its 2025 pace by 19 September. The main processions fall on 18, 19 and 28 October and 1 November.