Overview
- The exchange, which took place during Wednesday's general audience in St. Peter's Square, came as thousands of students gathered in Rome for the UNIV 2026 meeting.
- The giver was identified in Peruvian reports as Elvis Vilchez, a University of Piura student who traveled to Rome for the Holy Week event.
- On receiving the bag, the pope said "Chifles de Piura, gracias, pero es para ustedes" and then handed it to his secretary, Father Edgar Rimaycuna.
- The moment drew notice because the pope served as a missionary in the 1980s in Chulucanas, a city in Piura where the snack is part of daily life.
- Peruvian outlets, citing the student's account via ACI Prensa, shared the video widely as a cultural snapshot and reported no further Vatican statement.