Jorge García Cuerva, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, warned President Javier Milei’s government on Monday that Argentina is on the verge of “social breakdown” as he delivered the annual ‘Te Deum’ service at the Metropolitan Cathedral.
The Catholic leader urged Argentina’s political class to embrace dialogue and consensus to overcome what he described as national “paralysis.”
Speaking before President Milei and several members of his Cabinet at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral during the traditional ‘Te Deum’ ceremony marking the anniversary of the May Revolution, Cuerva delivered a sharp message about Argentina’s growing social tensions.
The annual religious service commemorates the events of 1810 that paved the way for Argentina’s independence from the Spanish Crown.
“Despite chronic crises, the Argentine people continue moving forward and carrying the nation on their shoulders,” said Archbishop Cuerva.
“What we lack is a leadership class willing to draw strength from those people and commit to dialogue and unity, doing so for those who can no longer cope, for those suffering from a lack of work, education and opportunities,” he added.
The archbishop warned that Argentina could not afford complacency.
“We cannot allow ourselves to be naïve. The shadow of social breakdown is appearing on the horizon while different interests pursue their own agendas, detached from the needs of society as a whole,” he said.
The Catholic Church’s message comes amid mounting social tensions following two years of severe economic adjustment, declining purchasing power, increasingly precarious employment and a slowdown in economic activity, despite falling inflation.
According to a survey by the private Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, confidence in the government fell for the fourth consecutive month in May, while concerns over wages and unemployment continue to rise.
Milei’s public spending cuts policy – which he has branded the “chainsaw” – has eliminated Argentina’s chronic fiscal deficit, though at the cost of thousands of layoffs and reductions in funding for healthcare, education and pensions.
“We have an enormous responsibility to help heal so much personal, family and social paralysis,” Cuerva said, again calling for dialogue.
“Enough of fuelling division and polarisation,” he said, with the President – who has frequently embraced confrontational rhetoric – seated before him.
The Archbishop also called for a less aggressive political discourse.
“Let us begin to dismantle this language, abandoning hurtful words, instant judgement and slander,” he said, while also condemning “ostentation, wastefulness and excess.”
Cuerva also took aim at Argentina’s political leadership, accusing many of living “with privileges, detached from ordinary people” and having “lost sensitivity toward those who suffer.”
The archbishop also criticised what he called “haters” and “terrorism on social media,” condemning online abuse, defamation and personal attacks spread through digital platforms.
President Milei was accompanied by his sister, Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni, and nearly all the rest of his Cabinet, along with several lawmakers.
Vice-President Victoria Villarruel was a notable absence – reportedly not invited to the event by the President’s Office.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
Comments