This was a period in which the Church took a strong stance against human rights abuses by numerous military juntas; it also expressed a preference for the poor and concerns about extreme poverty and wealth inequality.

Before he turned 80 on December 19, 1993, Juan Landázuri Ricketts was the last cardinal elevated by Pope John XXIII to retain voting rights in a papal conclave.

The following year, Landázuri Ricketts was appointed titular bishop of Roina and was chosen in 1955 to replace the deceased Juan Gualberto Guevara as Archbishop of Lima.

As Archbishop, he collaborated with these efforts for sweeping agricultural and institutional reforms to take Peru into the modern world and develop its great economic potential.

During this period, in accordance with his Franciscan ideals, Landázuri Ricketts left the Archbishop's palace and moved into a small house in a working-class area of Lima.