Pope Leo stands beside Milei in Buenos Aires and tells his government the economy must serve people, not the other way round

Pope Leo XIV landed at Buenos Aires’ Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport on Sunday afternoon local time (early Monday AWST), flying in from Uruguay on the second leg of a 12-day tour of three South American countries. President Javier Milei was waiting at the foot of the stairs. It is the first papal visit to Argentina since John Paul II in 1987, and the first to the homeland of Pope Francis, who never went back during his 12-year papacy.

Within hours the pope was addressing government leaders, civil society figures and diplomats in Buenos Aires, in a speech broadcast nationwide. He did not name Milei. He did not need to.

“The economy must serve the person, not the person the economy,” Leo said. He backed policies that create growth, but said they had to reach the unemployed and retirees. He called for investment in schools, vocational training, universities and research, and said that when young people leave to chase their dreams abroad, a nation must ask itself where it has failed.

He also spoke about democracy as part of Argentina’s heritage that needs protecting, and said it depends on the patient search for agreement and on careful use of words.

Why does every line land on Milei?

Because almost every point touches a fight the government is in. Milei has called social justice “theft” and a “moral aberration” in recent speeches. He posts dozens of times a day, calling critics “traitors”. His government has refused to carry out a law passed by Congress restoring university funding, a dispute now before the courts, after university budgets fell by about 40% since 2023. Retirees, whose average monthly pension is about US$510, have protested outside Congress every Wednesday for more than two years.

Milei’s austerity has cut annual inflation from about 200% to about 32% and produced a budget surplus, and he keeps a loyal base for it. But real wages are still below where they were in late 2023, about 300,000 formal jobs have gone, and poverty stood at 32.3% in September.

Leo also returned to the subject that has become a signature of his papacy, artificial intelligence, warning that its rapid advance demands care about how it is used and who decides. Milei’s government is courting AI data centres in Patagonia and has embraced AI in policing.

How did Milei play it?

Warmly. At the welcome ceremony he struck a conciliatory tone, saying some causes transcend differences, and praised Francis as an exceptional figure. On the campaign trail he had called Francis an “imbecile” for championing social justice. His government has presented the trip as purely pastoral.

The local Church sees it differently. Of 44 public policy documents Argentina’s bishops’ conference issued between January 2024 and September 2026, 42 criticised the Milei administration.

Who is this pope to Argentina?

Leo, born in the United States, spent two decades as a missionary priest in Peru, and his pastoral style is often compared with Francis’s. Buenos Aires was Francis’s archdiocese from 1998 until he was elected pope in 2013, and as archbishop he expanded the number of priests serving the city’s informal settlements. That makes this, for many Argentines, the homecoming Francis never had.

Outside the presidential palace on Sunday, several hundred people chanted “Papa León” behind police barriers. About 57.7% of Argentines now identify as Catholic, down from about 90% in the 1960s.

Why does it matter beyond Argentina?

Milei is one of Donald Trump’s closest allies in Latin America and a model for a style of politics built on spending cuts and combative rhetoric. A pope willing to challenge that style, gently and in person, is a signal to governments well beyond Buenos Aires.