Pope Leo XIV heads to Argentina to face off with austerity-focused President Milei
The 71-year-old pontiff arrives in Buenos Aires to confront a president who slashed the health budget by nearly half, a move that has strained relations with the local church hierarchy.
By Priya Marino ·
Pope Leo XIV is moving to the most politically charged stop of his South American tour, arriving in Argentina to meet President Javier Milei. The visit follows a first leg in Uruguay, where the pontiff commemorated the feast of the Virgin of the Thirty-three, a date tied to the country's independence from the Brazilian empire in 1825.
Leo, 71, undertook the journey just weeks after surgery on Oct. 13 to remove a cancerous tumor from his lung. He has maintained a vigorous schedule, singing loudly and greeting crowds in his popemobile without shortening any events. Luis Bahamondes, a professor at the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Chile, described the trip as an effort to reinforce Leo's image as a political leader who does not shy away from conflict.
The atmosphere in Buenos Aires is expected to be tense. Milei, who took office in December 2023, has pursued an austerity program that the local Catholic Church has criticized for prioritizing economic orthodoxy over the needs of the poor. Since the president assumed power, Argentina's health care budget has dropped by 48% in real terms. Planned cuts to the public university system recently sent students into the streets in protest.
According to official data, poverty in Argentina reached 32.3% of the population, or about 15 million people, during the first half of 2026. Milei's administration defends the spending reductions as a necessary reform process to eliminate fraud and waste in the federal bureaucracy. He has also actively courted artificial intelligence investment and data centers with promises of limited regulation, a stance that contrasts with Leo's recent calls for strict, internationally policed safeguards on AI development.
Leo's presence in Argentina also serves to complete unfinished business from the papacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis. The Argentine Jesuit served as archbishop of Buenos Aires for 12 years but never returned to his home country during his pontificate. David Lantigua, a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame, noted that there is significant disagreement over Francis's legacy in the country, particularly among the poor who felt the impact of Milei's cuts.
Leo, who spent two decades as a missionary priest in Peru, is viewed as a pastor in Francis's image. He arrived in Uruguay as the first pope to visit the nation in nearly four decades, aiming to remind its secular population of the church's role in their national identity. The final leg of his tour will take him to Peru, his second homeland.
