Some 2.5 million people, according to local authorities, attended the Mass Pope Leo XIV celebrated on Monday in the parks of Palermo in Buenos Aires, the first by a pontiff in Argentina since John Paul II’s visit in 1987, with a homily focused on the role of the family. El País described it as the largest gathering of his pontificate.
Thousands of faithful began arriving on Sunday night around the Monument of the Spaniards, where the stage was set up, and many slept there. The crowd, which followed the ceremony on 33 giant screens set up along more than two kilometres, spilled into nearby streets on a day declared a national holiday. Alongside Argentine flags were those of Uruguay, Chile, Brazil and Paraguay.
The Pope arrived in Palermo at around 11.30 a.m., after visiting the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione, a home for people with disabilities on the outskirts of the capital. “The history, culture and society of Argentina have found in the family the source from which to draw the people’s fundamental values,” he said in his homily. The family has been, he added, the place “to pass on the faith, human virtues, the culture of work, respect for elders, the defence of life and fidelity to one’s word”. His remembrance of Pope Francis, who died last year, was met with a long ovation.
President Javier Milei followed the Mass from the front row, alongside senior government officials. According to El País, brief whistles and boos were heard in some parts of the park when his image appeared on the screens. On Sunday, in his first address to the authorities, the Pope had said that “the economy must be at the service of the person”.
“In 1987 I couldn’t see John Paul II, so I didn’t want to miss Leo,” said Lidia, 71, who arrived at six in the morning from the Buenos Aires suburbs. Of Sunday’s speech, she said: “His message was very realistic; he described everything we are going through.”
The Pope travels to Córdoba on Tuesday, where he will celebrate Mass at 10 a.m. at the Military Aviation School. The provincial government expects more than a million people and more than 2,000 buses of pilgrims. He will then greet the crowd from the balcony of the Archbishopric, as John Paul II did in 1987, and meet clergy at the Cathedral. On Wednesday he will celebrate a final Mass in Luján before travelling to Peru.