Leo XIV: Christian Family Remains a Pillar of Hope
At his first Mass in Argentina, the Pope called families to welcome Christ, endure hardship without fear, and lead the Church’s evangelizing mission.
On Monday, November 9, 2026, the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Mass in Argentina at the Monument to the Spaniards in Buenos Aires. In his homily he urged Argentines not to resign themselves to voices claiming the Christian family is outdated.
"Today more than ever it represents a pillar amid the many precariousnesses of our time," he said. The family, he said, has been the place where Argentines learned the faith, human virtues, the culture of work, respect for elders, the defense of life, and fidelity to one’s word. He called it "the privileged place for coming to know and encounter Christ."
Homes Opened to Christ
The Pope told families to "Open the doors of your homes to Christ" and to speak "naturally" of Jesus to their children. He pointed to simple practices: grace before meals, evening prayer, forgiveness and mutual listening, grandparents teaching prayer, and Sunday Mass.
Quoting Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, he recalled that the family is called to share daily prayer, the reading of God’s Word, and Eucharistic communion, so as to become "a temple where the Spirit dwells."
He acknowledged the hardships many households face—unstable work, domestic violence, painful separations, and addictions—and said God’s word offers hope: "God is in our midst; we need not be afraid."
He concluded with a direct charge: "Dear families, I exhort you to be protagonists in evangelization! The Church in Argentina needs you!" He asked families to support bishops, pastors, pastoral workers, and catechists, and entrusted all families to Our Lady of Lujan and St. Joseph.
Estimates of the crowd at the outdoor Mass differed, ranging from more than one million to about two and a half million faithful.
Earlier Visit in Claypole
Earlier that day, at the Little Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole, the Pope said that the lives of people with disabilities "are not a burden on society; they are a blessing."
The Mass on the Lateran feast thus framed the Christian home not as a private retreat but as a public pillar of faith, virtue, and mission for the Church in Argentina.