Pope urges Argentines to follow saints’ example at Córdoba Mass

Leo XIV called on Argentines to pursue holiness as he celebrated Mass in Córdoba, drawing an estimated 650,000 people, the Vatican said. The visit came a day after an estimated 2.5 million attended his liturgy in Buenos Aires, the largest turnout at one of his overseas Masses to date. Córdoba was selected for its central location and was hosting a pope for the first time in nearly 40 years.

In his homily, Leo pointed to two prominent Argentine saints: José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, canonized in 2016, and María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, known as Mama Antula, who became Argentina’s first female saint in 2024. He urged people to carry forward the example left by the saints and blesseds.

The Mass was held on the grounds of an aircraft factory once operated by the air force. The military used aircraft built there in attacks on leftist guerrillas in late 1975, before the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Human rights groups estimate about 30,000 people were killed or disappeared during the dictatorship.

After the service, Leo was scheduled to meet 20 people chosen to represent Córdoba’s poor and marginalized, including Alba Camargo, who was detained as a child after four relatives were abducted. Forensic anthropologists identified the remains of nine people missing from the La Perla detention center two weeks earlier. On November 11, Leo is due to visit Devoto Prison in Buenos Aires to meet inmates and pray with them.

Leo’s Córdoba visit puts dictatorship memory and Milei’s cuts in focus

The site of Pope Leo XIV’s Córdoba Mass carries a history Argentina cannot set aside: an aircraft factory whose planes were used against leftist guerrillas in 1975, shortly before the military dictatorship began. Human rights groups estimate that about 30,000 people were killed or disappeared under the 1976-1983 regime.

Leo celebrated Mass for an estimated 650,000 people and called on Argentines to follow the example of saints José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero and Mama Antula. But the visit also puts the people still searching for the disappeared in view. Leo was scheduled to meet 20 people representing the poor and marginalized, among them Alba Camargo, whose relatives were abducted and taken to La Perla. Forensic anthropologists identified the remains of nine people missing from that detention center two weeks earlier.

Camargo hopes the meeting can bring change as Javier Milei’s government cuts funding for memorial sites and groups seeking people who vanished, while promoting an account that portrays military crimes as excesses in a war against guerrillas. Leo has referred to painful memories and the need to confront past injustices. His planned November 11 visit to Devoto Prison, once used as a clandestine detention and torture center, will continue that focus on Argentina’s history and those affected by it.

Hundreds of thousands gather as Leo calls Argentina to holiness

Pope Leo XIV’s message in Córdoba was one of faith and example: Argentines are called to holiness, following figures such as José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero and Mama Antula. An estimated 650,000 people attended the Mass, after about 2.5 million gathered for his Buenos Aires liturgy the day before.

The crowds came from across Argentina. Córdoba’s central location made it the choice for Leo’s first papal visit there in nearly 40 years. The Mass celebrated the country’s religious heritage, including Brochero’s work among the poor and Mama Antula’s place as Argentina’s first female saint.

The service also unfolded at an aircraft factory site associated with the country’s violent past. The military used planes built there against leftist guerrillas in late 1975, before the dictatorship that lasted from 1976 to 1983. Human rights groups estimate about 30,000 people were killed or disappeared during that period. Leo has urged Argentines to confront past injustices, while his Córdoba schedule includes a meeting with people representing the city’s poor and marginalized. On November 11 he is due to visit Devoto Prison, a former clandestine detention and torture site, to meet inmates and pray with them.