Pope Leo XIV arrives in Argentina, meets President Milei while urging respectful dialogue
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Buenos Aires on Nov. 8 and met privately with President Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada. In his first address in Argentina, Leo urged civil leaders to safeguard democracy, protect the unborn, and engage in respectful dialogue across political divisions. The pope described his arrival as personally meaningful, honoring Pope Francis, a native of Buenos Aires who never returned to Argentina after becoming pope.
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Pope Leo XIV began the Argentina leg of his South American trip on Nov. 8 with a meeting with President Javier Milei and an appeal for democratic conduct, respectful political dialogue and care for human dignity. He also paid tribute to Pope Francis, the Buenos Aires native whose homeland he was visiting as his successor.
Leo arrived in Buenos Aires from Uruguay shortly after 4:30 p.m. and was welcomed at the airport by Milei. The two met privately at the Casa Rosada presidential palace before the pope addressed civil authorities and diplomats at Palacio Libertad.
The visit came as Leo traveled through Argentina and Peru after Uruguay. Argentina has more than 43 million Catholics, according to 2022 Vatican figures, though a 2026 Pew Research Center survey cited in the article found that 58% of adults identified as Catholic.
Leo said the visit was “personally meaningful,” describing it as retracing the steps of Francis, who led the Buenos Aires archdiocese before becoming pope in 2013 and never returned to Argentina afterward. Milei, who had previously criticized Francis but later apologized to him, praised the late pope at the event as an exceptional figure who inspired people regardless of faith.
In his address, Leo said democracy depends on listening, careful speech, seeking agreement and treating political opponents as fellow citizens. He urged public officials to exercise authority as service and to promote the welfare of all, while also emphasizing ethical technological development, environmental respect and the dignity of every person.
Leo called on Argentina’s leaders to consider why young people feel they must leave the country to pursue their aspirations. He also asked what place unborn children have in decision-making and urged care for people affected by illness, dependency and disability, saying their lives retain value in every circumstance.
Leo was scheduled to celebrate Mass in central Buenos Aires on Nov. 9, then meet social movements, religious leaders and the local Catholic community. The following day, he planned to travel to Córdoba for Mass and a meeting with Church leaders, before presiding over a youth vigil in Buenos Aires.
The Argentina visit was due to conclude Nov. 11 with Mass at the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Luján, after which Leo was to fly to Peru.
Catholic moral teaching on democracy, dialogue, and unborn life
Catholic moral teaching holds that democracy is valuable because it can enable people to participate in public life and pursue the common good—but it is not morally sound merely because decisions are made by majority vote. Respectful dialogue and legitimate political disagreement belong in a democracy; they do not make every position morally equivalent. In particular, the Church teaches that the unborn possess a right to life that civil society should protect, rather than a right that can be granted or withdrawn by political agreement.
For Catholic social teaching, the common good means the social conditions that allow people and communities to live with dignity and pursue their proper good. Democracy can serve that good by giving people a real part in public life. But democratic procedures need moral foundations: the dignity of every person, basic rights, and justice cannot depend solely on which view has the most votes at a particular moment.
John Paul II warns that without an objective moral standard, democracy risks becoming a contest among competing interests in which the strongest can shape the outcome. Formal participation may then conceal the vulnerability of those with little power. The point is not that elections or majority decisions have no value; it is that they cannot make an unjust decision just simply by being procedurally democratic.
Catholics may legitimately disagree about many political questions, including which policies best address a social problem. The Church does not prescribe one political party or one solution for every practical issue. Catholic citizens may choose among different options compatible with faith and the natural moral law, taking account of circumstances and the common good.
That freedom is not the same as saying that all moral positions are equally true or acceptable. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith distinguishes legitimate political pluralism from relativism: there can be several reasonable ways to advance a good, but pluralism does not mean abandoning basic moral principles. The Church’s role is not to settle every technical policy question, but it can and should make moral judgments when fundamental rights are at stake.
Applied to public dialogue, this means listening, reasoning, and seeking workable cooperation without pretending that a grave injustice is merely another preference. Dialogue can help citizens understand one another and find common ground on practical measures. But genuine dialogue does not require Catholics to silence their moral convictions or treat the protection of life as a negotiable value.
The Church’s teaching is that human life must be respected and protected from conception. The CDF identifies laws concerning abortion as matters involving fundamental moral principles and says that laws should defend the basic right to life “from conception to natural death”; it also specifically calls for respect and protection of the rights of the human embryo.
The reason is not that the unborn have political influence or can participate in elections. It is that human dignity and basic rights do not originate in a vote or depend on social recognition. A democracy is therefore morally tested by how it treats people who are especially vulnerable and unable to defend themselves. John Paul II says that when the right to life from conception is not fully respected as inalienable, democratic participation can become a cover for the power of the strong over the weak.
This does not settle every question about how a society should support mothers, families, children, or people in difficult circumstances. The supplied Catholic teaching establishes the moral claim that unborn life must be protected; it does not specify one complete package of social or legislative policies for achieving that protection. Catholics can debate those practical approaches, while remaining clear about the underlying principle.
Catholic participation in democracy should seek the good of the whole community, not only the interests of Catholics. It includes contributing to public debate, evaluating policies, and supporting laws and institutions that respect human dignity. John Paul II specifically encourages Catholics, including public officials, to make their voices heard in shaping cultural, economic, political, and legislative projects that recognize each person’s dignity and defend life.
The relationship among democracy, dialogue, and unborn life can therefore be summarized this way: democracy provides a way to deliberate and govern; dialogue helps people engage across disagreement; and moral truth sets limits on what may rightly be decided or done. On Catholic teaching, respect for the unborn is not an obstacle to democratic dialogue. It is one test of whether democracy’s commitment to human equality and the common good extends to those with the least power.