Pope’s visit to Argentina sets up showdown with ‘hyper-capitalist’ Milei
Pope Leo XIV will begin his first full day in Argentina on Monday 9 November with a visit to a home for disabled people in Claypole, a stop that highlights a deepening rift with President Javier Milei over funding cuts.
The Cottolengo Don Orione home in Claypole, about 26km from Buenos Aires, is preparing to welcome Pope Leo XIV on Monday 9 November as the first stop of his three-day visit to Argentina.
The visit will take place at a tense moment for the home, which cares for about 400 residents with disabilities.
Facility coordinator Fernando Montero says the government has cut off the supply of medications, special foods and diapers since last November, a situation he says is now in court.
The pope and Milei, he said, “have completely opposing ideologies”, arguing that the pope teaches that a person’s worth is not measured by whether they are productive, whereas Milei is a “hyper-capitalist” who believes only “those who compete the most should be rewarded”.
Ideological clash
The clash between the two leaders extends beyond social issues to technology and governance.
In May, Pope Leo XIV called for the “disarming” of artificial intelligence, while President Milei has said he will not regulate AI technology and has presented bills to build datacentres and grant legal status to “no-human corporations”.
Federico Sturzenegger, a minister in charge of state cuts, has used AI to draft legislation, a practice that sociologist Milagros Miceli says creates a “contradiction” with the pope’s call to put human beings at the centre.
She welcomed Leo’s visit, celebrating how the “powerful figure” of the pope intends to put “human beings at the centre by stripping these technologies of the values that are presented to us as taking precedence over humanity.”
Social impact of cuts
The government’s austerity measures have had a severe impact on vulnerable populations.
At a weekly retirees’ march last Wednesday, a man held up a cardboard sign reading, “Save us Pope Leo XIV – Milei is killing us.”
Buenos Aires archbishop Jorge García Cuerva said Leo XIV would find “a divided Argentina and a large number of very poor brothers and sisters.”
Diplomatic reception
The government is attempting to downplay the potential for conflict.
Sandra Pettovello, the minister overseeing social policy, said, “There’s no way the pope is going to come here to comment on local politics.”
Amnesty International has written to the pope about Argentina, warning of its “concern about government decisions that affect the exercise of fundamental rights.”
The visit will culminate in a meeting between the pope and Milei at the airport on Sunday.
Public and political context
The pope’s itinerary includes a Mass at the grounds of FAdeA, the state-owned military aircraft factory in Córdoba, where workers have protested against Milei’s cuts.
Juan Cruz Esquivel, director of Buenos Aires University’s Barometer of Religions and Beliefs, said the itinerary speaks for itself.
“Any mention of defending domestic production, labour, disability or social justice in the pope’s rhetoric naturally clashes with the ideology that Milei’s government has been promoting,” he said.
Despite the tensions, a majority of Argentines expect a “message from the pope focused on the social and humanitarian agenda.”
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