Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1355 EAT on Monday 9 November 2026
Argentine President Javier Milei has welcomed Pope Leo XIV at Buenos Aires’ Jorge Newbery Airport, marking the first papal visit to Argentina in nearly four decades.
Milei, accompanied by his sister and presidential secretary, Karina Milei, received the pontiff on Sunday amid growing tensions between the government and the Catholic Church over his austerity policies.
In his first public address in Argentina, Pope Leo XIV, 71, appeared to take aim at President Javier Milei’s free-market economic agenda, stressing that economic policies should put people’s welfare first.
“The economy must serve the person, not the person the economy,” Leo told political leaders in Buenos Aires.
While advocating an economic approach that “stimulates private initiative”, the pontiff also called for policies that protect vulnerable groups, including “the unemployed, retirees and all those who, despite hard work, nonetheless struggle to meet their household’s needs”.
Argentina is the second stop on Leo’s 12-day tour of three Latin American countries, which began with a three-day visit to Uruguay.
The visit marks the first papal trip to Argentina since Pope John Paul II visited the country in 1987.
During his visit to Argentina, Pope Leo attended a welcome ceremony at Plaza San Martín before meeting President Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada, the country’s official presidential palace.
The pontiff is also scheduled to visit a prison and celebrate Mass in Buenos Aires, Luján and Córdoba Province before departing for Peru on Wednesday.
However, his visit comes at a time when the Catholic Church is facing declining membership across Latin America, alongside sometimes strained relations with political leaders, including Milei.
Catholics remain the largest religious group in Latin America, with an estimated 425 million people identifying with the Church.
However, the proportion of Catholics in the region has declined over the past decade. A Pew Research Center survey found that the share of Argentinians identifying as Catholic fell from 71 per cent in 2013–2014 to 58 per cent a decade later.
Milei, who was raised Catholic, has previously indicated that he considered converting to Judaism.
Relations between his government and the Catholic Church have also been strained in recent years, with political differences emerging over several issues.
The Argentine president had a particularly contentious relationship with Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, who was born in Buenos Aires in 1936.
Even before winning the presidency in 2023, Milei attracted attention for his repeated criticism of Francis over issues ranging from taxation to social welfare programmes.
He famously described the late pontiff as a “communist” and an “imbecile who defends social justice”.
Francis, who was the first pope from the Americas, never visited Argentina during his papacy. He died in 2025.
Some observers have viewed Leo’s visit as an opportunity to make the trip Francis never undertook as head of the Catholic Church.
“Leo is going to make the visit that Francis never did,” said Reverend Lorenzo “Toto” de Vedia, who works with poor communities in a Buenos Aires neighbourhood.
Milei adopted a more welcoming tone on Sunday following Leo’s arrival in Buenos Aires, describing the first US-born pope as an “exceptional figure”.
For his part, Leo sought to deliver a message of unity, urging leaders to rise above political differences and focus on the common good.
“There are causes and occasions that transcend our differences,” the pontiff said in his address.
He also called on public officials to embrace their responsibilities as servants of the people, stressing that leadership should prioritise the welfare of citizens.
“Authority is most authentic when it is exercised as service,” Leo said.
“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.”
Since taking office, Milei’s government has implemented sweeping spending cuts aimed at curbing inflation and eliminating Argentina’s fiscal deficit.
His administration has also reduced subsidies, relaxed regulations and pursued the privatisation of state-owned companies.
Although the measures have helped the government achieve a budget surplus and bring down inflation, real wages remain below the levels recorded when Milei assumed office. About 300,000 formal jobs have also been lost since the reforms began.
Argentina’s public universities have also been affected by Milei’s spending cuts, prompting concerns over funding for higher education.
In his Sunday address, Pope Leo called for greater state investment in education and vocational training, emphasising the need to create opportunities for young people within the country.
“A nation must seriously ask itself where it has failed when its young people have to leave their homeland in order to make their dreams come true,” the pontiff said.
He also stressed the importance of protecting Argentina’s democratic institutions, describing democracy as “a part of Argentina’s heritage that needs to be safeguarded”.
-Aljazeera
Invest or Donate towards HICGI New Agency Global Media Establishment – Watch video here
Email: editorial@hicginewsagency.com TalkBusiness@hicginewsagency.com WhatsApp +256713137566
Follow us on all social media, type “HICGI News Agency” .
