President Milei welcomes Pope Leo during historic visit to Argentina
Summary
President Javier Milei welcomed Pope Leo XIV to Argentina on Sunday, November 8, beginning the first papal visit to the country in nearly four decades. The visit includes meetings with Milei and other officials, public events and Masses, amid tensions between the government and Catholic Church over austerity measures.Key Facts
- Milei and his sister, presidential secretary Karina Milei, greeted Pope Leo XIV at Jorge Newbery airport near Buenos Aires.
- Leo is the first pope to visit Argentina since John Paul II visited in 1987.
- The pope arrived after spending three days in Uruguay, the first stop on his Latin American tour.
- Leo is scheduled to meet Milei at the Casa Rosada and attend a welcome ceremony at Plaza San Martin.
- The pope is expected to remain in Argentina until Wednesday and visit a prison and celebrate Mass in Buenos Aires, Lujan and Cordoba.
- The Catholic Church has criticized Milei’s cuts to social spending and safety-net programs; Milei says the cuts are needed to control inflation.
- A Pew Research Center survey found that the share of people in Argentina who identify as Catholic fell from 71 percent in 2013–2014 to 58 percent about a decade later.
- Pope Francis, who was born in Buenos Aires, never visited Argentina as pope and died in 2025.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.
