Pope Leo: Disabled Lives Are a Blessing, Not a Burden

On Monday, November 9, 2026, during his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, Pope Leo XIV visited the staff and residents of the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole.

He left the Apostolic Nunciature at 7:45 a.m. local time in an open vehicle along a route lined by about 100,000 people. At the entrance he was greeted by some 3,000 people, Bishop Jorge Rubén Lugones of Lomas de Zamora, and the center’s director, Brother Jorge David Silanes.

After a welcome hymn and the unveiling of a commemorative plaque, the Pope prayed before the relic of the heart of St. Luigi Orione in the Chapel of the Heart. He then heard testimonies from residents living with disabilities, among them a blind resident, Marta Torres—who was abandoned by her mother the day before her birthday—and Norma Donato.

Charity Written on Every Face

In his address, Pope Leo XIV said charity “is not only seen in works, but is recognized in every gesture, every face, every smile, and even, we might say, in the air we breathe.” He described the Cottolengo as a “community of open doors” where everything speaks of God’s love.

Drawing on Bethlehem, Nazareth and Bethany as places of family, integration and friendship, he affirmed: “Today, I want to affirm that your lives are not a burden to society. They are a blessing.” He added that “the progress of a nation is also measured by the welcome it knows how to extend to all persons with disabilities and special needs,” and he urged Argentina to make “great works of charity” where Christ’s love triumphs over individualism and exclusion. He asked those present: “Why can’t all of you be saints?”

The visit placed the Church’s preferential love for the vulnerable at the center of the Pope’s day in Argentina, presenting the residents’ lives not as objects of pity but as a living proclamation of the Gospel.