Pope Leo XIV is expected to visit Argentina for three days in November as part of a two-week tour of Latin America that would also take in Peru and Uruguay.
The Argentine leg of the visit, which has not been confirmed by the Vatican, is in the final stages of planning, according to an Argentine bishop who met the pontiff in Rome this week.
Santiago Olivera, Argentina's military bishop, said the November itinerary was "practically defined" after greeting Leo XIV following his general audience on Wednesday.
Olivera was accompanied to the Vatican by a 20-strong delegation of Argentine military personnel serving in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, alongside military attaché Germán Zarralanga, Lieutenant Colonel Pérez Marignac, Monsignor Gustavo Acuña and Father Sergio Fernández.
"It was a brief greeting, but charged with symbolism," Olivera told the La Nación newspaper, recalling the moment he conveyed Argentina's eagerness to receive the pontiff. Asked about a visit, Leo XIV responded with warmth and a hint of mystery: "We'll see."
If confirmed, the trip would represent the first papal visit to Argentina in nearly four decades. No pontiff has set foot in the country since John Paul II, who visited in 1982 and again in 1987.
‘Highly likely’
Back in May, President Javier Milei said it was "highly likely" that Pope Leo would visit the country in November as part of a papal tour taking in Uruguay and Peru.
Milei's remarks came days after Uruguay's government and Catholic Church said they were looking forward to a potential November visit from the pontiff.
Argentina’s leader said it was "highly likely, barring any unforeseen circumstances" that Leo would visit the homeland of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who disappointed Argentines by never paying a visit after becoming leader of the world's Catholics.
Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva is also on record as saying there is a “strong possibility” Leo will visit.
The Peruvian conference of Catholic bishops in February described a papal visit as "80 percent certain."
The pope, who was born Robert Francis Prevost in the US city of Chicago, lived for more than two decades in Peru, where he was a missionary and bishop in the northern city of Chiclayo. He has both US and Peruvian citizenship.
Proposed itinerary
Pope Leo’s proposed itinerary would see him spend 10 days in Peru, three in Argentina and a day and a half in Uruguay.
Possible Argentine stops include Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Santiago del Estero, as well as a potential activity in Patagonia, according to a report by the Noticias Argentinas news agency.
The prospect of a mass open-air event has already prompted River Plate to offer its Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires as a venue. The club submitted a formal letter to the Vatican in December, though no response has been received.
The proposal gained currency after Leo XIV drew tens of thousands of faithful to stadiums in Madrid and Barcelona during a recent visit to Spain.
The Argentine Synod formally invited Pope Leo to Argentina in 2025, presenting him with a letter. Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno conveyed a formal invitation from President Milei during a meeting in February.
After a subsequent encounter with Church authorities, Quirno later signalled that there was "good news" for Argentines and that only the date remained to be fixed. Milei reposted the message with a terse reply – "He's coming" – alongside two lion emojis, a play on the pontiff's name and the President’s own moniker.
‘Always pastoral’
Church leaders, however, are being careful to manage expectations and stress that the visit will be apolitical.
"We haven't received any official information yet. Hopefully we'll have some confirmation soon," said Marcelo Colombo, Archbishop of Mendoza and president of the Argentine Bishops' Conference (CEA). The CEA's communications director told international media as recently as late May that there was "no official confirmation or concrete information" on a visit.
Church sources have been at pains to stress the pastoral nature of any visit. "The pope's trips are always pastoral – an encounter between the leader of the Catholic Church and his faithful," ecclesiastical sources said, dismissing any diplomatic or political reading of the potential tour.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL/AFP
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