Pope Leo meets five abuse survivors in Buenos Aires as 2.5 million gather for Mass

Meeting with abuse survivors

The Vatican said Pope Leo met five people who had been sexually abused by Catholic clergy in Buenos Aires on Monday, 9 November, the second day of his visit to Argentina. According to the Vatican, the meeting lasted more than an hour. The encounter is one of several the pope has held with survivors on trips abroad, and it is meant to help restore the image of a Church damaged by abuse scandals. Before his arrival, some survivors had asked for stricter accountability, including a worldwide zero-tolerance policy for clergy with credible abuse allegations. In a statement, the Vatican described the exchange this way:

“The Pope spoke separately with each of them, listening to their words, their painful personal stories and their proposals for strengthening paths of healing within the Church.”

Vatican officials have previously said that a single reporting law across all countries is hard to create, and that removing priests can place them outside Church oversight. Some survivors credit Leo, who served as a missionary in Peru for decades before becoming pope, with pressing the Vatican to dissolve Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Peru-based Catholic community that faced allegations of sexual, physical and psychological abuse.

A crowd of 2.5 million in Buenos Aires

Crowds stretched for kilometres along Avenida del Libertador on Monday, with worshippers waving Vatican flags and chanting "Long live Pope Leo" as he passed in an open papal vehicle. Citing the Vatican, Reuters put attendance at the Mass at about 2.5 million people, the largest gathering so far on the 12-day tour and in his 18-month pontificate. Earlier reports said authorities expected up to 1.5 million people, while the previous largest crowd of his papacy was about 1.2 million in Madrid in June.

Expected, earlier report (up to)1.5

Reported by Vatican, citing Reuters2.5

Madrid, June (previous largest)1.2

Expected, earlier report (up to)

1.5 million people

Reported by Vatican, citing Reuters

2.5 million people

Madrid, June (previous largest)

1.2 million people

Data from the article text

Many people had arrived before dawn, and some camped overnight to secure a place near the pope. A 37-year-old woman waited there with her husband and two children, and a 56-year-old woman said she had spent the whole night on the street. In his homily, the pope said he was moved by the welcome in a region where Catholicism has long been dominant but is losing believers to fast-growing evangelical churches. The pope, who is 71, has about 50 scheduled events, less than a month after surgery for lung cancer.

A message to President Javier Milei

On Sunday, 8 November, the pope addressed President Javier Milei directly, telling him that the economy must serve everyone, including the poor. He said that the economy must serve the people, as he put it to the Argentine president:

“The economy must serve people, and not people serve the economy.”

He said citizens struggle to meet their household needs despite hard work and urged the government to show particular care for people affected by illness, addiction or disability. Coverage read this as an implicit rebuke of government cuts to disability benefits. He also called for stronger democratic institutions, stressing a willingness to listen and careful use of words, and said those in power must recognise the limits the people have entrusted to them. Milei, a far-right president who has imposed harsh austerity, has an aggressive style that has cost him allies in Congress and public support. Francis, who was born in Argentina, never visited his homeland during his 12-year papacy from 2013 to 2025, reportedly to avoid accusations that a trip would serve political influence.

The rest of the tour

The pope has already visited Uruguay and is due in Peru on Wednesday, 11 November, before returning to Rome on 17 November. The 12-day trip covers three countries and includes about 50 scheduled events.

Peru is the country where Leo spent decades as a missionary before he became pope, and the tour's last stop before Rome.