BUENOS AIRES — Pope Leo XIV left Argentina on Wednesday after a four-day visit that drew some of the largest crowds in the country’s recent history, put work, disability, poverty, and national unity at the center of the conversation, ultimately ending with a tearful farewell from popular conservative President Javier Milei at the airport in Buenos Aires.

It was the first visit by a pontiff to Argentina in 39 years. The pope flew on to Peru, the last leg of a Latin American tour.

At Ezeiza International Airport, Milei took the pope’s hands for a final goodbye, was visibly moved and began to weep as cameras rolled.

“Gracias por esto. Esta es su casa; lo esperamos. Gracias,” he told him.

La Nación reported that Milei dedicated a few words to the pope and could not hold back tears. Milei was accompanied by his sister, presidential chief of staff Karina Milei, and Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno.

Buenos Aires officials said about 2.5 million people attended the pope’s public Mass in the capital. The visit ended with a Mass in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, which provincial authorities estimated drew more than three million worshippers.

The pope closed his final Mass by saying “Me sentí como en casa” — “I felt at home” — and “¡Hasta siempre, mi querida Argentina!”

The Pope’s Message

The visit began Sunday with a speech to authorities with Milei present, in which the pope said “the economy must be at the service of the person.” On Monday he began at a disability care home, where he said disabled people are not a burden on society but a blessing, then addressed labor and business leaders at the Catholic University of Argentina: “To deprive a person of work is not simply to deny that person an income.”

Critics of Milei took the day as a rebuke to his libertarian agenda as opposition members argue the government has withheld much of the funding for disability care despite a law Congress passed over his veto last year, which prompted protests from Argentina’s Catholic bishops.

The pope did not name Milei or his policies in the remarks reported here, and the government has not described the speeches as criticism.

History

The trip followed tension between the government and the Catholic hierarchy over austerity. Milei, who harshly criticized Pope Francis, an Argentine, in the past, called him “the most important Argentine in history” on Sunday. Milei had invited Leo through a letter delivered by Quirno in February. He first met the pope at the Vatican on June 7, 2025.

Reading a visit is partly interpretation, and the evidence so far supports a few cautious points. The turnout shows the Church’s continuing weight in a largely Catholic country, and the pope’s themes of work, disability and the vulnerable landed in an ongoing dispute between the government and Church leaders over spending cuts.

Milei’s public embrace of the pope, after years of conflict with Francis, suggests the government values the moment, at least signaling public reconciliation with the Church on important issues facing not only the government but the Argentine population.