Pope Leo XIV will arrive in Buenos Aires on Sunday on a visit that Javier Milei’s government presents as strictly pastoral, but which takes place amid tension with Argentina’s Catholic hierarchy, one of the most critical voices against the president’s austerity policies. The pontiff will begin a tour in Uruguay on Friday that will continue in Argentina from November 8 to 11 and end in Peru.
“The Pope belongs to all Argentines, not to a political party or a political colour,” presidential chief of staff Karina Milei, who led negotiations with the Church and the Vatican, has repeatedly said. The secretary of worship, Agustín Caulo, insisted it is “an apostolic tour” and that “this should not be politicised”. Authorities expect some 7 million people to follow the Pope in Buenos Aires, Claypole, Luján and Córdoba, in what Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva described as “the largest operation in our history”.
The underlying differences are well known. Leo XIV has placed social justice at the heart of his pontificate, while Milei has called it “an aberration”. A study by sociologist Sol Prieto of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Conicet) of documents published by the Argentine Bishops’ Conference between January 2024 and September 2026 found that 42 of the 44 referring to public policy, or 95%, take “a critical position”, on issues such as the social situation, the environment, institutional quality, the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility and a decree curbing migrants’ rights.
Ten days ago, when Milei questioned the idea that many people cannot make ends meet, the president of the Bishops’ Conference, Marcelo Colombo, replied: “That people cannot make ends meet is a fact of reality, not something that needs to be proven.” The Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge García Cuerva, said the Pope “will find a wounded Argentina”. “There is no affinity, but a very strong aversion between most Argentine bishops and Milei’s government,” said researcher Fortunato Mallimaci, who identifies opposition to abortion as one of the few points of agreement.
According to El País, the government sought to limit mass gatherings but the Vatican’s position prevailed, and the Pope will celebrate open-air Masses. Two events are particularly uncomfortable for the government, according to the newspaper: the meeting with trade unionists, business leaders and social movements at the Catholic University of Argentina and the visit to the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione, a home for people with disabilities, one of the sectors hardest hit by spending cuts. The place of Vice President Victoria Villarruel, estranged from Milei, at official events also remains undecided.