Pope Leo XIV landed in Buenos Aires on Sunday, delivering an immediate diplomatic critique of President Javier Milei’s austerity agenda by insisting that political leaders must prioritize people over economic metrics.
Pope Leo XIV Clashes With Javier Milei
Sunday marked the first papal visit to Argentina in nearly 40 years following John Paul II’s journey in 1987, as reported by PBS. Meeting at the Casa Rosada, the pontiff and Milei engaged in a private half-hour discussion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Human capital minister Sandra Pettovello dismissed the prospect of political friction ahead of the visit. She stated on a Buenos Aires radio show that the pope was not coming to comment on local politics, as noted by PBS.
Pope Leo XIV recalled Uruguay’s first bishop who “bore faithful witness to the faith” and renewed evangelization in the South American country, where Catholics today are a minority and almost half the population professes no faith at all. The pope, celebrating Mass in the city…
Leo urged political actors to exercise restraint and safeguard democratic institutions in his address at the Palacio Libertad. Authority is most authentic when it is exercised as service,
the pope said, according to The Independent.
He also stressed the necessity of a careful use of words
in a political climate marked by sharp rhetoric, as reported by CNN. The 71-year-old pontiff arrived after celebrating a large Mass attended by approximately 50,000 people in Uruguay.
My arrival in #Argentina is personally meaningful. For years, the universal Church listened to the voice of Pope Francis, who treasured, in his memories and in his heart, the places, the people, and the faith that he received here. #ApostolicJourney
The service began his 12-day South American tour that also includes Peru, where he spent two decades as a missionary and bishop and holds citizenship. Officials in Argentina estimated that up to 7 million people could turn out to see the pope during his visit.
Argentina’s state intelligence agency announced that a person had been arrested over death threats directed at Leo ahead of his arrival. A federal court in Campana ordered the arrest less than 24 hours after the agency received the tip.
The visit brings the pope to the homeland of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who passed away the previous year. Francis never returned to Argentina during his 12-year pontificate, a fact that theology professor David Lantigua noted leaves a legacy marked by plenty of disagreement over Francis.
Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva warned last month in Buenos Aires that Leo XIV would encounter a divided country and numerous poor brothers and sisters. An analysis by sociologist Sol Prieto showed that 42 out of 44 public policy documents published by the country’s bishops’ conference between January 2024 and September 2026 criticized Milei’s administration over issues ranging from poverty to migration.
Leo XIV in Latin America: reasons and challenges. Pope Leo XIV’s longest journey yet, to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, is above all a homecoming to the land where he spent two decades, undertaken weeks after cancer surgery. https://t.co/Gti9ka3R6d pic.twitter.com/ptbwi7jAoB
Austerity Sparks Protests in Argentina
Milei took office in December 2023 following a campaign featuring a chainsaw to symbolize deep spending cuts. He slashed the healthcare budget by 48 per cent in real terms, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Administration officials defend these measures as essential reforms to eliminate bureaucratic waste and stabilize the economy. Annual inflation has dropped from over 200 per cent to 33 per cent under his administration, noted The Independent.
Public-sector layoffs and subsidy reductions have squeezed household budgets. This drive forces retirees who say they cannot afford medicine on an average monthly pension of $510 to protest outside Congress, as detailed by The Guardian.
A protester held up a cardboard sign reading, Save us Pope Leo XIV – Milei is killing us,
at a weekly retirees’ march outside Congress last Wednesday. Fortunato Mallimaci, a sociologist at Argentina’s Conicet research institute, told NBC News that the papal visit will energize citizens who feel excluded by the economic program.
Leo’s itinerary includes stops at a detention center and a care center for people with disabilities. These locations feature the Cottolengo Don Orione home in Claypole, about 26 kilometers from Buenos Aires, where coordinator Fernando Montero noted that the facility has faced severe funding cuts and lacks deliveries of medications, special foods, and diapers since the previous November.
Pope Leo XIV Addresses Universities and Technology
Public universities have faced planned funding cuts, drawing the pope’s attention, according to the Associated Press.
The two figures also diverge sharply on technology policy. Milei seeks to position Argentina as a hub for data centers and loosens protections for glaciers that supply water to the country while calling human-caused global warming a “socialist lie.” Leo has warned against the unbridled expansion of artificial intelligence, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Sociologist Veronica Gimenez Beliveau of the University of Buenos Aires remarked that Milei has nothing to gain from fighting with the pope.
The pontiff is scheduled to remain in Argentina until Wednesday before traveling to Peru for the final leg of his 12-day tour, as reported by Yahoo.
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