Argentina's Catholic leadership has offered a stark assessment of the country Pope Leo XIV will encounter during his pastoral visit in November, describing a nation deeply wounded by material deprivation and political polarization. The warning came from Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva of Buenos Aires, the primate of Argentina, who said the pontiff will find a country divided by what is commonly called «la grieta» — the persistent rift in Argentine society.
«He will find a wounded Argentina, a divided Argentina, with that famous rift. An Argentina where disqualification and intolerance are the order of the day. An Argentina where a very large percentage of brothers and sisters are suffering, brothers who have been very poor for many years,» García Cuerva told reporters after presiding over a Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral.
The archbishop illustrated the country's prolonged crisis through a family memory. «My grandfather used to tell me: 'When you grow up, surely Argentina will move forward.' I have already grown up and Argentina is still in that situation,» he said. Despite the severity of his diagnosis, García Cuerva also highlighted the resilience of ordinary Argentines, noting that the Pope will also see «hardworking Argentines who get up every day, who bet on their families, who bet on sacrifice and who keep fighting to move forward without giving up.»
The papal visit, scheduled for November 8 to 11, will include a large outdoor Mass in Buenos Aires' Palermo woods on Monday, November 9, activities in Córdoba province on November 10, and a closing gathering at the Basilica of Luján on November 11, where between one and two million people are expected to assemble along a two-kilometer corridor.
García Cuerva linked the upcoming 52nd Youth Pilgrimage to Luján — which begins Saturday, October 3, at 10:00 from the San Cayetano Sanctuary in Liniers — to the spiritual and logistical preparations for the Pope's arrival. The 60-kilometer walk to the Luján Basilica, held under the motto «Mother, in your embrace we recognize each other as brothers,» will draw more than a million pilgrims and serve as a test run for the papal visit's massive security and organizational operation. More than 20,000 volunteers are coordinating with national, provincial, and municipal authorities. The archbishop will lead the central Mass on Sunday, October 4, at 7:00 in front of the basilica.
«It is a pastoral visit that will leave us homework to do,» García Cuerva said of the Pope's trip.
From Córdoba, Cardinal Ángel Rossi, the city's archbishop, reinforced the diagnosis with equally pointed language, warning about the impact of economic austerity measures and sharply criticizing the government's official narrative. Speaking to Radio Mitre Córdoba, Rossi said the Pope «will find an Argentina battered by poverty and socially demoralized,» accusing the national administration of «living on Mars» for constructing triumphalist accounts disconnected from daily reality.
«It would be so good if they told us: 'We are doing badly, let us all push together and we will get out of this,' and not this type of narrative that does not match reality. That discourages and irritates. Our people have some strength left, but there is exhaustion and a need for hope. I hope it does not turn into an ugly reaction, because there is tiredness and disillusionment,» Rossi said.
The Jesuit cardinal had previously warned during the San Cayetano celebrations that «macroeconomics does not reach the plate» and that policies had «taken people out of poverty to put them into misery.» His remarks underscore the Church's growing unease over the lack of social support, particularly in a province that will be a mandatory stop for the papal delegation on November 10, when Leo XIV is scheduled to meet with the nation's governors.
Together, the statements from Argentina's two most prominent churchmen frame the Pope's visit as both a spiritual mission and a pastoral encounter with a society in distress. The trip will test the Church's ability to offer a message of reconciliation in a country where political tensions and economic hardship have left deep marks on the daily lives of millions.