ABSTRACT
When the Pope visited Cusco in 1985 I found myself standing on the side of the road next to a wealthy lawyer and his wife. It was 6 am. People were anxious to get a good view of the Pope as he drove by, and were even hoping that he might stop and exchange a word or give a blessing. It is cold at that time of day, but I was surprised to see this couple ‘dressed up’ in indigenous garb. He wore a coloured ceremonial poncho and a chullu, the knitted hat that peasants and herders wear to keep out the cold. She was in wide homespun skirts with a jacket and shawl.They explained that the Pope had made it clear that he was visiting the poor people of Peru. And they were not going to let their wealth stand in the way! But they had not dressed up to trick the Pope. They experience the poverty of their nation in relation to more developed parts of the world. And they also felt an affinity with that understanding of the poor as the more deserving, more authentic, more community-oriented people whom the Pope had singled out for favour. As educated middle-class Cusqueños and Quechua speakers they would have been actively engaged in what is seen as a collective social responsibility to carry forward the values of their authentic indigenous Inka heritage for the future of the nation.Thus, the lawyer and his wife were ready to present themselves to the Pope as representatives of the deserving poor of Peru and had taken the precaution of dressing appropriately lest the Pope failed to see beyond the wealthy middle-class professional exterior.
