Pope Leo XIV due in Argentina on Sunday, to meet Milei and visit a disability home

Sunday arrival and schedule

Leo XIV is due at the Aeroparque airport in Buenos Aires at 16:30 local time on Sunday, 8 November, where Milei will receive him on landing. The programme then has the pope paying homage at the San Martín monument at 16:50 and meeting Milei at the Casa Rosada at 17:20. At 18:30 he is scheduled to meet government officials, civil society representatives and the diplomatic corps at Palacio Libertad, and both men are expected to give speeches broadcast nationally from 19:00. Il Fatto Quotidiano estimates that almost seven million Argentines will move to welcome him during the visit. It is the first papal visit to the country since John Paul II travelled there in 1987.

Church tensions with the government

The visit puts a pontiff with a quieter style than his predecessor at the centre of a long standoff. Francis never returned to Argentina during his papacy, a decision many saw as a way to avoid the country's bitter political divide. Milei has described social justice as an aberration at odds with capitalism and free markets, while Leo XIV took his name partly from Leo XIII and the encyclical Rerum Novarum, the basis of Catholic social doctrine. The New York Times reports that a clash between police and activist priests outside Congress in Buenos Aires last May became a flashpoint in these tensions. Priest Jorge Romero, interviewed later, responded with a blunt remark.

“This government is heartless.”

Karina Milei, the president's sister and secretary general of the presidency, led the talks with the Church on arranging the visit and set the government's narrative around it. Milei has said the pope's activities should not be politicised and that the pontiff belongs to all Argentines. In 2020 Milei attacked Francis in harsh terms, and he says he apologised when the two men met at the Vatican in February 2024.

Disability care and funding

On Monday, 9 November, the pope visits the Cottolengo Don Orione, a Catholic-run home in Claypole about 26 km from Buenos Aires, which houses roughly 400 residents with disabilities. The visit comes at a difficult time for the facility because the government has cut funding to the sector. Coordinator Fernando Montero said the government cut off supplies of medications, special foods and diapers.

“They haven't delivered any since last November.”

Montero added that the dispute is before a court. An ongoing inquiry into alleged misuse of funds at the National Disability Agency (Andis) adds to the criticism of the cuts. The government argues that its spending reductions were needed to curb inflation. According to the think tank Mate, retirees on the minimum pension, who make up 63% of the total, have lost around 30% of their buying power.

Masses, volunteers and the rest of the trip

The pope is scheduled to celebrate three public masses, in Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Luján, the town that holds the shrine of the Virgin of Luján, patron of the country. More than 25,000 volunteers have offered to help organise the visit, and a million hosts have been commissioned for the celebrations. Juan Maquieyra, director of Techo Argentina, which works on housing in vulnerable neighbourhoods, says Argentines are looking forward to the visit with great enthusiasm. The Argentine stop follows Uruguay, and the trip ends with six days in Peru.