Crowds line streets as Pope Leo visits care home for disabled

Thousands of people gathered on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on Monday to greet Pope Leo XIV as he travelled to a residential care home for more than 400 adults with disabilities, amid a sensitive debate in Argentina over state support for this section of the population.

Leo XIV arrived in Argentina on Sunday from Uruguay, the first stop on a tour that will end in Peru.

In his first speech in Buenos Aires later that evening, he called for economic growth to benefit the most vulnerable and for respect for those with different views – a pointed message in the presence of President Javier Milei, who has repeatedly attacked his critics and whose harsh austerity policies have drawn criticism from the Church.

From the early hours, families and groups of friends had gathered with chairs along both sides of the route the pontiff was due to take through Claypole, south of the capital in Buenos Aires Province.

Outside the Cottolengo Don Orione home, people embraced and waved Argentine and Vatican flags, while a band alternated religious songs with prayers from a stage in a nearby park.

Ana Trucco, a 22-year-old student, said she had grown closer to her faith after reading the encyclicals of Pope Francis.

"We must always be thinking about the most humble people in our country, who are being so abandoned today," she told AFP. "For Pope Leo to come, carrying on Francis's legacy, and speak to those people seems extremely important to me."

Cuts to government funding for care and services for people with disabilities have been one of the main sources of protest against Milei's austerity programme since he took office in December 2023.

Following negotiations involving the Catholic Church, the government and opposition agreed on a bill to guarantee funding for disability services. The lower house of Congress approved it in October, and it still needs to be voted on by the Senate.

At the Cottolengo, Leo XIV will deliver a short address and meet residents and staff outdoors. Two residents will share their testimonies before the Pope speaks and gives a blessing.

Closeby to the care home in Claypole, some local residents have turned their homes into makeshift stalls selling food and flags bearing the Pope's face.

Back in the capital, huge crowds are expected to attend a Mass given by Leo XIV.

In the City neighhourhood of Palermo, where the Pope is due to speak, thousands queued from early morning to find a spot, including many families with children.

Groups of worshippers arrived on buses organised by their parishes, while young people with guitars entertained those waiting with songs and clapping.

"What we need most is unity. We are so divided," said Soledad Troncoso, a 67-year-old pensioner from the southern outskirts of Wilde, fighting back tears.

She had travelled with her sister and several friends and neighbours.

"May his words endure, may he bring blessings to this country where there is so much suffering," said Troncoso.

– TIMES/AFP