On his last day in Argentina, Pope Leo XIV visits prison and celebrates mass for more than 2 million faithful

Pope Leo XIV ended his visit to Argentina this Wednesday (11) with an open mass for more than 2 million people at the sanctuary of Our Lady of Luján, the most important place of Catholic devotion in Argentina.

On Monday (9), the pope brought together more than 2.5 million faithful at a celebration in Buenos Aires. Among those present was the Argentine president, Javier Milei. The mass in the Argentine capital was the biggest single event of his 18-month pontificate.

After the celebration, the pontiff embarks for Peru, in an emotional return for the first Peruvian citizen to lead the Catholic Church — born in the USA, Leo XIV lived as a missionary in the Latin country for more than 20 years and received local citizenship.

The 12-day trip through South America will end on November 17th.

In Lujan, crowds stretched for miles around the shrine, with people crowding against security barriers, chanting "Lion, Lion, Lion" and waving white and yellow Vatican flags as it arrived in an open popemobile.

Before the mass, the pope visited one of Argentina's largest penitentiaries, where he hugged inmates and asked guards to treat inmates humanely.

The pontiff's strong speech in favor of charity comes amid criticism from the Church of cuts in social programs promoted by President Javier Milei.

Leo XIV's visit to Peru is expected to include moving scenes, with the pope visiting old friends and spending three days in the city of Chiclayo, where he was bishop from 2015 to 2023.

The trip is also a test, which will measure how directly he is willing to get involved in the politics of his adopted nation.

Leão XIV is scheduled to land at Callao Air Base, in Peru, at 5:30 pm local time this Wednesday, 7 pm Brasília time.

After a brief welcome ceremony, he will head to the presidential palace for a much-awaited speech to President Keiko Fujimori, elected this year in one of the most disputed elections in Peru's history, marred by accusations of fraud and delays in counting votes.

Keiko Fujimori assumed the presidency of Peru after winning the elections with the promise of a 'strong arm' in the security sector, following other right-wing rulers in the region.

Fujimori is the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, who governed the country from 1990 to 2000 and died in 2024. His victory marked the return of one of Peru's most influential and controversial political dynasties.

In 2017, Leo XIV, then known as Bishop Robert Prevost, criticized the pardon granted to the late President Fujimori.

He stated that the former president, who had been convicted of serious human rights violations, should personally seek the victims' forgiveness for Peru to achieve genuine reconciliation.

During her presidential campaign, Keiko Fujimori leaned heavily on her father's political legacy.

Peru prepared fervently for the return of the now pontiff: a 14-meter statue representing Leo with open arms was erected in Callao; merchants in Lima sell pope-themed shirts and souvenirs; and inmates of the country's largest women's prison sewed velvet dolls in her image.

Martin Cassinelli, an analyst at the Atlantic Council, said Leo XIV's Peruvian roots give him an unusual ability to talk about the country's political past.

"There is no other country where the pope is as in tune with domestic politics as Peru," Cassinelli said. "If there is anything that could potentially conflict with the current Fujimori government, it would be a reflection on the past."

Relations between the government of the late Fujimori and sectors of the Catholic Church were often tense, particularly in relation to human rights during the state's fight against the Shining Path Maoist insurgency.

Church figures also opposed the amnesty granted in 1995 to members of the security forces accused of human rights violations.