Pope Leo XIV has urged President Javier Milei and Argentina's political leaders to safeguard democracy, in his first speech in Buenos Aires on Sunday, 8 November. The pope, speaking hours after landing in the Argentine capital, called for a careful use of words and for opponents to be treated as fellow citizens rather than enemies.

Leo delivered the address at the Palacio Libertad to politicians, members of civic society and the diplomatic corps, after a private meeting with Milei shortly after his arrival. The two men had earlier appeared together at a welcome ceremony at the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace, and the pope was presented with the keys to the city by the mayor of Buenos Aires, Jorge Macri. He also visited the Monument to General San Martin in Plaza San Martin.

"Democracy, then, is also a part of Argentina's heritage that needs to be safeguarded," the pope said. He added that democracy is strengthened by the daily conduct of public life, "through willingness to listen, through careful use of words, through the patient search for agreement, and through the ability to see those who think differently as fellow citizens with whom we share a common future."

The Chicago-born pontiff, the first American pope, also spoke about the freedom to elect leaders through the ballot box and urged those in power to recognise the limits of their authority. Democracy, he said, is protected by confidence in the law, by the ability to express convictions freely and by institutions that serve everyone.

"Authority is most authentic when it is exercised as service, when it looks beyond the immediate, and when it uses its power to promote the welfare of all," he said. "Those who exercise authority have a duty to act with prudence, to acknowledge the limits of the power entrusted to them."

Leo also spoke about Argentina's economy, saying the country had an abundance of human resources and calling for its wealth to bear fruit for the benefit of all. He warned that corruption undermines trust in institutions, a message that landed in a country where the cost of living and the reach of the state remain fiercely contested.

The speech came at a delicate moment in the relationship between the Catholic Church in Argentina and Milei's government. The Church has criticised the president's "chainsaw" austerity programme, which has cut welfare spending, and Milei has described state-led social justice programmes as an aberration. Since he took office in December 2023, Argentina's healthcare budget has been cut by 48 percent in real terms, according to the Associated Press, and official figures put poverty at 32.3 percent of the population in the first half of 2026, about 15 million people.

Milei's government has presented the cuts as a necessary reform to overhaul a troubled economy and remove fraud and waste from the federal bureaucracy. The president has also courted investment in artificial intelligence and data centres with promises of limited regulation, an approach Leo has warned against, calling for strict, internationally policed safeguards on the development of the technology.

The visit also carries the weight of history. Leo's trip from 8 to 11 November is the first papal visit to Argentina in almost four decades, and it comes after his predecessor, Pope Francis, never returned home during his 12-year papacy. Francis, an Argentine who served as archbishop of Buenos Aires, was wary that a visit could be used to deepen the country's political divisions. Milei himself repeatedly insulted Francis before becoming president, later apologised, and met him at the Vatican in February 2024. Leo and Milei previously met at the Vatican in June 2025.

Leo has made the Church's social teaching and concern for the poor a central part of his papacy, and his itinerary reflects that emphasis. During the visit he is due to visit a federal prison in Buenos Aires and a care centre for people with intellectual and physical disabilities in Claypole, which has been affected by the government's spending cuts. Millions of people are expected to attend the various services and events during his stay.

Security was tightened before Leo's arrival. Argentina's state intelligence agency said on Saturday that a person had been arrested over death threats against the pope, after a federal court in Campana ordered the arrest less than 24 hours after the agency was tipped off. No further details were given.

Argentina is the second stop on Leo's 12-day tour of South America. He arrived from Uruguay, where he celebrated Mass in the city of Florida and praised the mothers and grandmothers who have passed the Catholic faith to younger generations. The Vatican estimated that 50,000 people attended that Mass. After Argentina, the pope is due to travel to Peru, where he spent two decades as a missionary priest.