The NHL will consider Finland's plans to prevent Russian athletes entering the country when deciding whether to stage more regular-season games there in future, the league told The Associated Press.
Finland and Norway both announced plans to refuse entry to Russian athletes Thursday, the same day as the Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken played the first of two NHL regular-season games in the Finnish capital, Helsinki.
The Finnish restrictions take effect from Monday, after the NHL games, and follow a backlash to Russia being reinstated in the hockey world championships, which is not an NHL event.
“We are aware of the government’s position and we’ll have to take that into account," the league said on Friday when asked if the new restrictions would be an obstacle to future games in Finland.
The Finnish foreign ministry's statement outlining the restrictions didn't distinguish between Russian athletes on national teams, those competing as neutral athletes, or those on club teams in sports like hockey or soccer.
The ministry said Thursday that Russians would only be allowed to work in Finland on “tasks that are essential to Finland’s national interests." It added that Russia “uses sports as a propaganda tool.”
The NHL has played regular-season games in Finland as part of its Global Series in 2022 and 2024 and hasn't confirmed any future games there yet.
As of the opening day of the 2026-27 season in September, there were 53 Russians on NHL rosters, making up 7.3% of the league. That was the fourth-largest contingent of players from any country.
Russian wing Andrei Svechnikov had an assist for the Hurricanes in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Kraken in Helsinki. Pyotr Kochetkov was Carolina's backup goaltender. The Hurricanes and Kraken play again in Finland on Saturday.
The government decisions Thursday followed a backlash in Finland to Russia being reinstated for the ice hockey world championships, but its effects could mostly be felt in other sports. The International Skating Union warned of a “possible consequential impact” on its figure skating world championships in Finland in March.
Public broadcaster ERR reported Friday that Estonia had written to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation that athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus would not be allowed to enter the country. Estonia hosts the world junior championships in Nordic skiing in January.
See AP’s full auto racing coverage here
Carolina Hurricanes' Juuso Välimäki, second from right, celebrates with, from left, Logan Stankoven, Nikolaj Ehlers and Shayne Gostisbehere after scoring the team's third goal against the Seattle Kraken during an NHL hockey game in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP)
Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho celebrates at the bench with teammates after scoring the team's fourth goal against the Seattle Kraken during an NHL hockey game in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP)
CHICLAYO, Peru (AP) — Pope Leo XIV returned Friday to his beloved former diocese of Chiclayo in an emotional homecoming that underscored his love for his Peruvian flock and their pride that their shepherd now runs the Catholic Church.
The pontiff, known here as “Padre Roberto,” arrived at Chiclayo’s airport on the Pacific coast and immediately headed to a vast, dusty field near the beach outside Chiclayo for his first Mass on Peruvian soil. Church officials estimated 1 million people could turn out.
Residents of Chiclayo cheered wildly when Leo arrived and looped through the crowd in his popemobile, under a scorching sun and temperatures of 31 C ( 87 F).
Chiclayo, population 700,000, is the commercial hub of Peru’s northern Pacific coast. But much of the world heard about it on the night of Leo’s election, May 8, 2025, when he gave Chiclayo a shoutout, in Spanish, from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.
And on Friday, Chiclayo welcomed its former shepherd home.
"I’m elated. He has decided to return to Chiclayo and we have him here, with us -- home,” said Julie Albujar, who woke before dawn with her sister to travel to the Mass site. Their children, who were confirmed by the pope when he was bishop, were tasked with taking the collection at Friday's Mass. “This a party and it’s a sign of our faith and our love for the pope.”
The former Robert Prevost spent two decades as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru and credits the place and its people with teaching him how to be a shepherd. Pope Francis sent the Chicago-born Augustinian to take over as bishop of Chiclayo in 2014 and he stayed until Francis summoned him to Rome in 2023 to run the Vatican's bishops' office.
In hindsight, the 2023 transfer to Rome signaled that Francis saw in Prevost a potential successor, since the job is one of the most important in the church and would give Prevost the Vatican experience that many consider necessary to be a viable contender for the papacy.
But Prevost's heart is in Chiclayo, where he remains beloved for championing social justice issues and for his closeness to the people, especially poor people, during times of crisis. And he had quite a few during his tenure: COVID-19, devastating floods, and a surge of Venezuelan migrants as the humanitarian situation worsened there in 2018.
“I’m so glad he’s returning,” said Rolando Antonio Mendoza, who was selling posters bearing the pope’s image in front of the cathedral where Leo used to celebrate Mass. “Even though he’s now Pope Leo XIV, he hasn’t forgotten about his homeland.”
Nearby, the El Trebol restaurant proudly calls itself the restaurant of the pope and his image is displayed in framed photos of Prevost riding a horse, wading through the mud in rubber boots and celebrating his birthday with a cake.
A sign on his favorite table — No. 3 — with a view of the cathedral reads: “mesa bendita” – Spanish for blessed table. Like many other places around the city, the restaurant sells “Papaletas” or “Pop(e)sicles" with Leo's image in white chocolate.
Just a few steps from the restaurant, a life-size cardboard cutout of the pope now welcomes visitors to his former residence at the diocese, where an exhibit displays the amaranth purple, scarlet and white zucchettos, or skullcaps, that he wore as bishop, cardinal and now pope.
“I feel so happy about my work because the pope is Chiclayano,” said Cynthia Charrary, who was sweeping the streets near the city’s main square ahead of Leo’s arrival. “We want our city to be cleaner than ever.”
Ever since Leo touched down on Peruvian soil on Wednesday, the world has seen a very different pope.
Normally reserved and placid, the 71-year-old Leo has seemed at turns positively giddy and overwhelmed with emotion to the point of tears.
That was certainly the case on Thursday night when some 60,000 young Peruvians sang for him in the Lima stadium. It was also the case when he sang the national anthem at the presidential palace upon his arrival on Wednesday.
Leo has also sung along with popular songs and hymns, tapping his fingers to the beat on an armchair.
On other occasions, he has shown himself so relaxed and comfortable as to joke about his health. Speaking to Peruvian bishops, he joked about how some “doubting Thomases” didn’t think he’d make it because of his recent lung cancer surgery.
After the Mass, Leo's other main events of the day include a meeting with Chiclayo clergy and seminarians and a speech to the Catholic university where he served as chancellor during his years as bishop. The university is named for the 16th-century first archbishop of Lima, St. Turibius de Mogrovejo.
Leo is particularly devoted to Mogrovejo and in many ways modeled his ministry on his.
Mogrovejo is revered for having traveled long distances on horseback to be with his flock and for having defended the rights of Indigenous and enslaved peoples. He studied Quechua and Aymara and oversaw the printing of church teaching in these Indigenous languages, because he believed the faith had to be transmitted in a language people could understand.
The Rev. John Lydon, an Augustinian who lived with Leo in Peru for over 10 years, says his commitment to Peruvians, human rights and involving the lay faithful in the running of church initiatives was born during his stints first as a young missionary priest in Chulucanas, then Trujillo and finally as bishop in Chiclayo.
Lydon recalled that Leo first arrived in Peru in the mid-1980s and saw the period of the Shining Path terror campaign and the later crackdown by the authoritarian Fujimori regime. In the late 1990s, then-Rev. Prevost led a campaign to collect signatures to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“These are the kind of things that just mark his identity,” Lydon recalled.
———
Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese contributed to this report from Lima.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Pope Leo XIV arrives to preside over Mass in Pampas de Pimentel, near Chiclayo, Peru, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Pope Leo XIV arrives to preside over Mass in Pampas de Pimentel, near Chiclayo, Peru, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Pope Leo XIV arrives to preside over Mass at an open space near the Pampas de Pimentel in Pimentel, Peru, on the eighth day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The faithful await a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV after spending the night at Pampas de Pimentel, near Chiclayo, Peru, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Nuns prepare ciboria containing Communion wafers ahead of a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV in Pampas de Pimentel, near Chiclayo, Peru, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The faithful await a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV after spending the night at Pampas de Pimentel, near Chiclayo, Peru, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The faithful hold letters spelling the Spanish word for "Welcome" ahead of a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV in Pampas de Pimentel, near Chiclayo, Peru, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A cutout of Pope Leo XIV is displayed outside a restaurant in Chiclayo, Peru, where the pontiff served as bishop, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
People take a selfie with a sign of Pope Leo XIV in Chiclayo, Peru, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Faithful cheer during a prayer vigil led by Pope Leo XIV at the National Stadium in Lima, on the seventh day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV leaves at the end of a prayer vigil at the National Stadium in Lima, on the seventh day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV catches a stuffed lion as he arrives to lead a prayer vigil at the National Stadium in Lima, on the seventh day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
