Pope Leo XIV urges youth in Argentina to reject 'idols' and to follow the model of saints

Résumé détaillé

Pope Leo XIV has urged Argentines to reject the “idols” of money, drugs and pornography and to model their lives on the saints

Pope Leo XIV is urging Argentines to follow the examples of some of the country's best-known saints

CÓRDOBA, Argentina -- CÓRDOBA, Argentina (AP) — Pope Leo XIV urged Argentines on Tuesday to follow the holy example of the country's best-known saints as he drew an estimated 650,000 people to the central city of Córdoba for Mass, a day after an estimated 2.5 million turned out in the capital.

Faithful from all over Argentina drove hours to be on hand for the Mass, from the farthest north of the country to Patagonia in the south and points in between. After nearly 40 years without a papal visit, Córdoba was chosen to host Leo because of its central location.

Erika Viñales, 39, and Elena Llanquenao, 54, religious education teachers from Santa Cruz province in southern Argentina’s Patagonia region, said that they traveled 2,000 kilometers (more than 1,200 miles) to be on hand.

Pablo González, a 44-year-old plumber, traveled from Tucuman province in northern Argentina.

“I never imagined the pope would come to Argentina and that I’d come to see him,” he said.

The Mass follows Leo's first liturgy, which was held on Monday in the capital, Buenos Aires, and drew an estimated 2.5 million people. It was the largest turnout for any of Leo’s foreign Masses to date. The Vatican said that 650,000 were on hand for Tuesday's Mass in Córdoba.

In his homily, Leo recalled that Córdoba was a “land of saints,” home to some of Argentina’s best-known missionaries. They include St. José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, known as the “ Gaucho priest,” and “Mama Antula,” who in 2024 became Argentina’s first female saint.

In 2016, Pope Francis canonized Brochero, the poncho-wearing, mate-sipping pastor who rode his mule Malacara to the far-flung peripheries of Argentina to minister to the poor. He died in 1914 after living for years with leprosy that he was said to have contracted from one of his faithful.

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