An estimated 2.5 million people filled the streets of Buenos Aires to welcome Pope Leo XIV and attend a historic outdoor Mass in the Argentine capital.
Buenos Aires is the second stop on the Pope’s 12-day tour of Latin America. The 71-year-old began the tour only three weeks after surgery for lung cancer.
Last month’s operation to remove a tumor was successful, and his doctors say the cancer has not spread. The Vatican says no extraordinary measures are being taken in relation to his health. It describes him as a 71-year-old who has undergone an operation, not a person with a permanent medical condition.
The Pope spoke as he arrived in Buenos Aires. He said Argentina’s economy must benefit everyone, including the poor. “The economy must be at the service of the people, rather than people being at the service of the economy,” he said. He spoke of those who, “despite hard work, nonetheless struggle to meet their household’s needs,” and urged “particular concern” for those affected by illness, dependency and disability.
He also said strengthening democracy requires a “willingness to listen” and the “careful use of words.” “Those who exercise authority have a duty to act with prudence, to acknowledge the limits of the power entrusted to them, and to direct their decisions toward the good of the entire community,” he said.
President Javier Milei, a right-wing leader, said in response that his government was working to avoid “punishing the Argentines of tomorrow in order to benefit the Argentines of today.” In his own address welcoming the Pope, Milei defended his libertarian policies. He said the rights to life, liberty and property are the backbone of Argentina’s constitution and of Western democracies.
Milei, who has said he will seek re-election next year, called Pope Francis an “exceptional figure” and “undoubtedly the most important Argentine in history” on Sunday. He also wrote in a post on X that Argentina awaits Pope Leo “with immense joy.”
The trip has been described as a homage to Francis, who did not return to his homeland during his own papacy. This leg of the journey was expected to be the most politically sensitive, because the Catholic Church has denounced the president’s agenda of cutting public spending for hitting the poorest hardest.
Source: BBC
