Pope Leo XIV is expected to visit Argentina for three days in November as part of a two-week tour of Latin America that would also take in Peru and Uruguay.<\/p>\n
The Argentine leg of the visit, which has not been confirmed by the Vatican, is in the final stages of planning, according to an Argentine bishop who met the pontiff in Rome this week.<\/p>\n
Santiago Olivera, Argentina’s military bishop, said the November itinerary was \u00abpractically defined\u00bb after greeting Leo XIV following his general audience on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Olivera was accompanied to the Vatican by a 20-strong delegation of Argentine military personnel serving in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, alongside military attach\u00e9 Germ\u00e1n Zarralanga, Lieutenant Colonel P\u00e9rez Marignac, Monsignor Gustavo Acu\u00f1a and Father Sergio Fern\u00e1ndez.<\/p>\n
\u00abIt was a brief greeting, but charged with symbolism,\u00bb Olivera told the La Naci\u00f3n<\/em> newspaper, recalling the moment he conveyed Argentina’s eagerness to receive the pontiff. Asked about a visit, Leo XIV responded with warmth and a hint of mystery: \u00abWe’ll see.\u00bb<\/p>\n If confirmed, the trip would represent the first papal visit to Argentina in nearly four decades. No pontiff has set foot in the country since John Paul II, who visited in 1982 and again in 1987.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Highly likely\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Back in May, President Javier Milei said it was \u00abhighly likely\u00bb that Pope Leo would visit the country in November as part of a papal tour taking in Uruguay and Peru.\u00a0<\/p>\n Milei’s remarks came days after Uruguay’s government and Catholic Church said they were looking forward to a potential November visit from the pontiff.<\/p>\n Argentina\u2019s leader said it was \u00abhighly likely, barring any unforeseen circumstances\u00bb that Leo would visit the homeland of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who disappointed Argentines by never paying a visit after becoming leader of the world’s Catholics.<\/p>\n Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Garc\u00eda Cuerva is also on record as saying there is a \u201cstrong possibility\u201d Leo will visit.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Peruvian conference of Catholic bishops in February described a papal visit as \u00ab80 percent certain.\u00bb<\/p>\n The pope, who was born Robert Francis Prevost in the US city of Chicago, lived for more than two decades in Peru, where he was a missionary and bishop in the northern city of Chiclayo. He has both US and Peruvian citizenship.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Proposed itinerary<\/strong><\/p>\n Pope Leo\u2019s proposed itinerary would see him spend 10 days in Peru, three in Argentina and a day and a half in Uruguay.\u00a0<\/p>\n Possible Argentine stops include Buenos Aires, C\u00f3rdoba and Santiago del Estero, as well as a potential activity in Patagonia, according to a report by the Noticias Argentinas news agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n The prospect of a mass open-air event has already prompted River Plate to offer its Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires as a venue. The club submitted a formal letter to the Vatican in December, though no response has been received.\u00a0<\/p>\n The proposal gained currency after Leo XIV drew tens of thousands of faithful to stadiums in Madrid and Barcelona during a recent visit to Spain.<\/p>\n The Argentine Synod formally invited Pope Leo to Argentina in 2025, presenting him with a letter. Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno conveyed a formal invitation from President Milei during a meeting in February.\u00a0<\/p>\n After a subsequent encounter with Church authorities, Quirno later signalled that there was \u00abgood news\u00bb for Argentines and that only the date remained to be fixed. Milei reposted the message with a terse reply \u2013 \u00abHe’s coming\u00bb \u2013 alongside two lion emojis, a play on the pontiff’s name and the President\u2019s own moniker.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Always pastoral\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Church leaders, however, are being careful to manage expectations and stress that the visit will be apolitical.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00abWe haven’t received any official information yet. Hopefully we’ll have some confirmation soon,\u00bb said Marcelo Colombo, Archbishop of Mendoza and president of the Argentine Bishops’ Conference (CEA). The CEA’s communications director told international media as recently as late May that there was \u00abno official confirmation or concrete information\u00bb on a visit.<\/p>\n Church sources have been at pains to stress the pastoral nature of any visit. \u00abThe pope’s trips are always pastoral \u2013 an encounter between the leader of the Catholic Church and his faithful,\u00bb ecclesiastical sources said, dismissing any diplomatic or political reading of the potential tour.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2013 TIMES\/NA\/PERFIL\/AFP<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nrelated news<\/h6>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n