Pope Leo XIV is due to celebrate Mass in Buenos Aires on Monday, in the first papal visit to Argentina in almost four decades, as huge crowds gather for the centrepiece of his South American tour.

The Mass is scheduled for 11:30 at the Monumento de los Españoles, on Avenida del Libertador in the Palermo district, according to the Vatican's official itinerary. Earlier on Monday the Pope is due to visit staff and residents of the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione centre in Claypole, which serves people with disabilities.

A visit shaped by Francis's legacy

Leo arrived in Argentina on Sunday from Uruguay, the second stop on a 12-day tour that runs from 6 to 17 November and also takes in Peru. President Javier Milei welcomed him at Buenos Aires' Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport. Leo, 71, is the first United States-born pope, and the first pope to visit Argentina since John Paul II in 1987. Pope Francis, who was born in Buenos Aires, never returned to his home country during his pontificate.

The Buenos Aires programme also includes a meeting with the world of work at the Catholic University of Argentina, a meeting with Christian and interreligious leaders, and vespers with Argentina's bishops at the Metropolitan Cathedral. Organisers expect a crowd of more than 1.5 million people at the Mass, according to reports of the visit.

The trip comes weeks after Leo had surgery to remove part of his right lung, after a growth found during routine checks was confirmed as cancer. He remains in Argentina until Wednesday, with Masses planned in Córdoba on Tuesday and at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján on Wednesday, before travelling on to Peru, where he served as a missionary and bishop for about two decades.