Pope Leo XIV Arrives in Argentina for Tense Meeting With Milei

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Buenos Aires on Sunday, beginning the second leg of his South American tour. He landed at the airport where President Javier Milei and a military honor guard waited to greet him. Crowds pressed against the airport fence, waving Vatican flags and wearing shirts with the pope’s face.

Before the flight, Leo concluded his visit to Uruguay in the city of Florida, north of Montevideo. The city has a population of about 40,000, but the Vatican estimated that 50,000 people attended the Mass in the main square. Some attendees walked several kilometers to reach the site under bright blue skies. Leo became the first pope to visit Uruguay in nearly four decades.

In his homily, the pope addressed the role of women in preserving Catholic faith in a country that has become highly secular. He acknowledged the pain of mothers and grandmothers whose children no longer attend Mass. “Mothers and grandmothers: never tire of passing on the faith!” he said. He also noted that the history of peoples cannot be fully understood without reference to God.

The stop in Argentina is expected to be politically delicate. The Catholic Church has criticized Milei’s austerity program, which has slashed social spending. Milei has called social justice an “aberration” and mocked complaints about families struggling to make ends meet. His government has portrayed the cuts as necessary reforms to fix the economy and reduce waste.

Official data shows that poverty in Argentina reached 32.3% of the population in the first half of 2026. This figure represents about 15 million people. Since taking office in December 2023, Milei cut the healthcare budget by 48% in real terms. Planned cuts to public universities have also sparked student protests.

Karina Milei, the president’s sister and secretary-general of the presidency, told reporters that the papal trip is purely religious. “The pope belongs to all Argentines. He doesn’t belong to a political party or a political camp,” she said. Meanwhile, Argentine state intelligence arrested a person on Saturday over death threats against the pope. The arrest was ordered by a federal court in Campana, 70 kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires.

Leo is also completing unfinished business from the papacy of his predecessor, Francis, who never returned to his home country. A professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute, David Lantigua, noted that there is disagreement over Francis’ legacy in Argentina. Leo, who spent two decades as a missionary in Peru, is expected to face similar tensions as he addresses the poor and vulnerable.