Buenos Aires (Argentina) (AFP) - The Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Monsignor Jorge García Cuerva, stated this Friday that the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Argentina from November 8 to 11 will find the South American country wounded, divided and in crisis.
First modification: 02/10/2026 - 20:58
"Argentina that has been in crisis for many years awaits the pope," Cuerva told the press at the Buenos Aires Cathedral.
Leo XIV will arrive in Argentina from Uruguay and prior to his visit to Peru as part of a South American tour.
This is the first visit by a pope to Argentina in 38 years. His predecessor, the Argentine Francisco, never returned to his native country from his appointment in 2013 until his death in 2025.
"The pope comes because he has his pastoral heart in Latin America," Cuerva said.
"You are going to find a wounded Argentina, divided by that famous crack that hurts in the guts of the people, where disqualification and intolerance are the order of the day," he said about the social and political climate of the South American country.
He also referred to poverty, which increased again in the first half of this year after two years of decline and affects a third of the population and almost half of the children under 14 years of age, 10% of them in destitution.
The pope will visit "an Argentina where it hurts a very large percentage who have had a bad time, of very poor brothers for many years" but who still "do not lower their arms," said the religious.
The Catholic Church, the majority cult in the South American country, calls for next Saturday one of the largest religious pilgrimages that takes place each year in Argentina, which will go from the capital to the sanctuary of Luján, 60km to the north.
It is expected that this Saturday, with the Pope's visit approaching, the march, which usually brings together tens of thousands of people, will exceed one million pilgrims, despite the forecast of bad weather and storms.
According to the announced agenda, Leo XIV will celebrate a mass at the sanctuary of Luján, patron saint of Argentina, on Wednesday, November 11, before his departure to Peru.
© 2026 AFP
The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.
