Pope Leo XIV's Argentina Visit Raises Questions of Papal Politics Amid Milei Tensions

On Monday, an estimated 2.5 million people lined the streets of Buenos Aires to catch a glimpse of Pope Leo XIV, the first US-born pope. One attendee at the open-air Mass told DW the visit mattered for Argentina's unity and, above all, for reaffirming faith in the Catholic Church. "Argentina is a country of faith," the attendee said, "it's always been so." Justin McLellan, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, reported from the capital that public mood toward the visit was overwhelmingly positive. "I think that people are big fans of Leo," he said.

The politics came the day before. On Sunday, Leo made remarks that many observers took as criticism of President Javier Milei, whose government has imposed strict austerity, sweeping cuts to social services and the elimination of thousands of public sector jobs. "The economy must be at the service of the people, rather than people being at the service of the economy," the pope said. He also spoke of those who, despite hard work, struggle to meet their household's needs. He repeated the message during a visit to a care home before Monday's Mass.

Some of Milei's supporters online responded by suggesting the pope had overstepped his role. The tour also marks Leo's return to duty just a month after cancer surgery.

Jocelyne Cesari, a professor of religion and politics at the University of Birmingham, told DW the words were aimed at the president's recent policies without naming him, and described them as carefully calibrated. The papacy, she noted, has a long history of direct political power. Pope Innocent III was widely considered the most important man in Europe around the late 11th and early 12th century, wielding influence over much of the continent's monarchies. In the 20th and 21st centuries, popes have tended to intervene more broadly, away from party politics and specific policy.

Leo's approach was tested early in his papacy by US President Donald Trump, an ally of Milei. In an April social media post, Trump called him "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy." Leo answered that he does not see his role as that of a politician. He said he is not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which he believes is what he and the Church are here to do. Cesari said it is a familiar stance: all popes before him walked that line, and the pope is a head of state, a diplomat and a voice for more than a billion Catholics, so the role has always been political.

The longer-term question is whether Leo's perceived criticism of Milei will matter in Argentina's general election in October 2027. McLellan thinks it could. He pointed out that Leo has given his support to Argentine bishops who have criticized Milei's austerity and cuts to social programs, which he said could raise the voice of the Church in the country.

Cesari is more doubtful. People may revere the pope, she said, but it is not clear that his words directly affect individual voters. Studies show no clear, direct effect on elections, and Catholics do not vote as a bloc. Many voted for Milei in 2023, even after he called Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, the representative of evil on Earth.

Milei, a right-wing libertarian and outspoken critic of the ruling class, has long clashed with the Church. In 2020 he called Francis, a native Argentine, an "imbecile" and accused him of promoting communism. On Monday he struck a more conciliatory tone, calling the late Francis an "exceptional figure" and the "most important Argentine in history."

McLellan described Leo as diplomatic by nature, a quality that may matter as Trump and Milei have both taken swipes at the Church amid ongoing geopolitical turmoil. What to watch is whether the Argentine bishops grow louder, and whether any of it reaches the ballot box in 2027.