Pope wraps up Uruguay visit and heads to most fraught stop of his tour in Milei's Argentina

FLORIDA, Uruguay (AP) — Pope Leo XIV wrapped up his sojourn to Uruguay connected Sunday by marking an important Catholic feast time that is tied to the country’s independence, capping his effort to gully attraction to the relation the religion played successful the founding of Latin America’s astir secular country.

Leo traveled to the metropolis of Florida, northbound of Montevideo, earlier heading to Argentina for the 2nd limb of his three-nation circuit of South America. It's expected to beryllium the astir politically delicate, fixed the Catholic Church's crisp criticisms of the austerity programme of libertarian President Javier Milei.

For his last lawsuit successful Uruguay, Leo was commemorating the feast of the Virgin of the Thirty-three. Every year, thousands of pilgrims flock to Florida connected the 2nd Sunday of each November to commune earlier the tiny woody icon of the Virgin Mary housed there.

According to tradition, 33 independency patriots acquired the Guaraní statue and had it with them erstwhile independency was declared from the Brazilian empire successful Florida connected Aug. 25, 1825.

Leo became the archetypal pope successful astir 4 decades to sojourn Uruguay, successful hopes of reminding its radical that the Catholic Church is portion of their precise individuality arsenic a federation — adjacent if successful consequent decades the state went connected a profoundly secular, and astatine times anticlerical, route.

Thousands of radical poured into Florida's main quadrate connected Sunday up of the Mass nether superb bluish skies, immoderate walking for respective kilometers (miles) to scope the site.

An appraisal aft the archetypal limb of the trip

Leo was hoping to permission a parting connection earlier opening the 2nd limb of his South American trip, which helium went up with contempt having undergone country Oct. 13 to region a cancerous tumor from his lung. The last halt is successful Peru, his 2nd homeland.

Leo, 71, has appeared successful good signifier astatine his events, singing loudly, bounding up stairs and gamely greeting the crowds successful his popemobile. He has not chopped immoderate events short, including those that person kept him retired until past midnight Rome time.

“This sojourn volition besides service to reenforce the representation of Leo arsenic a leader, not simply successful a spiritual sense, but successful a overmuch broader capableness arsenic a governmental person and a wide recognized fig who, acold from shying distant from struggle oregon tension, offers a almighty position and commands a highly respected voice,” said Luis Bahamondes, a prof astatine the Center for Judaic Studies astatine the University of Chile.

A perchance delicate gathering with Milei

In Buenos Aires, Milei is owed to greet Leo astatine the airdrome and past the 2 volition look unneurotic for the accepted invited ceremonial and speech of speeches. The brushwood could beryllium tense, fixed the Catholic Church's disapproval of Milei’s austerity measures that person slashed societal spending, and his clasp of artificial intelligence.

Milei has staked his presidency connected cutting societal spending to overhaul Argentina’s troubled system and present a long-elusive fund surplus. He has called societal justness “an aberration” that amounts to stealing, and mocked arsenic “huge stupidity” the progressively communal ailment successful Argentina that families squeezed by his austerity programme can’t marque it to the extremity of the month.

Leo, who took his sanction from the 19th-century pope whose encyclical connected labour laid the instauration of Catholic societal teaching, has made the mediocre and susceptible a absorption of his papacy, carrying connected the bequest of his Argentine predecessor, Pope Francis.

Posters speechmaking “At last, a Lion who unites” appeared crossed Buenos Aires this weekend, a jab playing connected the pope’s sanction successful Spanish — León, oregon lion — and the lion imagery Milei often uses to represent himself connected societal media.

“Argentina is simply a nine presently experiencing important upheaval, heavy polarization, and an economical crisis, on with a president who defies accepted protocol — a person who, astatine 1 point, adjacent challenged Pope Francis,” Bahamondes said.

The Argentine religion is simply a crisp Milei critic

Since taking bureau successful December 2023, Milei has slashed Argentina’s wellness attraction fund by 48% successful existent terms. Planned cuts to the nationalist assemblage system, which represents a near-universal constituent of pridefulness successful the crisis-prone country, sent students into the streets.

According to authoritative data, poorness successful Argentina reached 32.3% of the colonisation during the archetypal fractional of 2026, representing astir 15 cardinal people.

Much similar its allies successful the Trump administration, Milei's authorities has portrayed the cuts arsenic portion of a indispensable betterment process to remake Argentina’s troubled system and destruct fraud and discarded successful the national bureaucracy.

Like Trump, Milei has besides courted AI concern and information centers with promises of constricted regulation. Leo has warned that the AI contention poses threats to humanity and the situation and called for strict, internationally policed safeguards connected its development.

Milei’s authorities insists the papal travel is purely religious. “The pope belongs to each Argentines. He doesn’t beryllium to a governmental enactment oregon a governmental camp,” Karina Milei, the president’s sister and caput wide of the presidency, told reporters aft a caller readying gathering for Leo’s sojourn with religion leaders.

A travel to implicit Francis’ unfinished business

In Argentina, Leo is completing unfinished concern near by his predecessor, Francis. The Argentine Jesuit, the erstwhile archbishop of Buenos Aires, ne'er returned location during his 12-year pontificate, confounding friends and foes alike.

“There’s a batch of disagreement implicit Francis and his bequest successful Argentina,” said David Lantigua, a theology prof and module chap astatine the University of Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute, which focuses particularly connected Latin American affairs.

Much of the polemics stems from his tenure successful Buenos Aires, erstwhile the erstwhile Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a sometimes divisive partisan fig successful a politically polarized country. Bergoglio was a slum priest, who advocated for the poorest and astir marginalized — the assemblage of Argentines feeling Milei’s societal spending cuts the most.

“I deliberation we’ll spot that benignant of hostility with Leo — that’s the ministry Francis near behind,” Lantigua said.

Leo, who spent 2 decades arsenic a missionary clergyman successful Peru ministering to mediocre people, is precise overmuch a pastor successful Francis' representation and owes his pontificate to the precocious pope.

Argentina’s authorities quality bureau said Saturday that a idiosyncratic had been arrested implicit decease threats against Leo up of his sojourn to the country. A national tribunal successful Campana, immoderate 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires, ordered the apprehension little than 24 hours aft the bureau was tipped off, it said, without elaborating connected the fishy oregon the quality of the threat.

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DeBre contributed from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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