Leo XIV Urges Argentina to Guard Heritage and Serve the Common Good
In Buenos Aires he ties democracy, the economy, and AI ethics to human dignity, entrusting the nation to Our Lady of Luján.
On Sunday, November 8, 2026, Pope Leo XIV delivered his first address in Argentina to civil authorities, representatives of society, and the diplomatic corps at the Palacio Libertad, seat of the Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Cultural Center in Buenos Aires. The speech came during his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru (November 6–17). President Javier Milei took part in the encounter.
Succeeding Pope Francis in the Petrine ministry, Leo XIV said he was, in a way, retracing the path and returning to the homeland where Francis began a story later intertwined with that of the whole Church. He repeated Francis’s September 2016 words to his country: “May the Lord make you grow as a people.”
Heritage Received, Not Invented
No generation, the Pope insisted, begins the homeland from scratch; it receives it. Each generation must discern what deserves to be kept, face the unjust consequences of the past, and increase the common material and spiritual patrimony. He pointed to Jorge Luis Borges, José Hernández’s Martín Fierro, tango, and the shared mate as living signs of that inheritance, and affirmed that the Christian faith is deeply rooted in it.
Public life, he said, requires learning to live together despite differences. “Democracy is also strengthened in the everyday way of acting in public life.” Authority is service: officials must act with prudence and recognize the limits of power.
Economy, Youth, Life, and Technology
“The economy must serve the person, not the person the economy,” Leo XIV declared. A nation must seriously ask where it has failed when its young must leave their land to realize their dreams. Before asking what world will be left to the next generations, their dignity must first be recognized—an affirmation he extended to the sick, the dependent, and the disabled.
Argentina, he said, is “blessed by God with extraordinary natural wealth.” Technological development, notably artificial intelligence, “needs an ethical conscience to match it.” He also called for South American cooperation against organized crime, drug and human trafficking, and corruption.
Closing, the Pope evoked Carlos Gardel’s “Volver”: life is a breath, yet the good each generation has known how to keep and pass on endures. He entrusted the nation to Our Lady of Luján.