Pope Leo helps Argentines embrace Francis, the pontiff who once divided them

Résumé détaillé

Millions of Argentines have turned out to see Pope Leo XIV — and the words that moved them most often belonged to his predecessor, and their compatriot, Francis

Millions of Argentines have turned out to see Pope Leo XIV — and the words that moved them most often belonged to his predecessor, and their compatriot, Francis

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Vast crowds of young Argentines, a generation that Catholic leaders had feared was abandoning the pews, packed the parks of Buenos Aires and cheered as if at a concert when Pope Leo XIV promised a church open to “todos, todos, todos” — everyone, everyone, everyone.

Those words, like all of Leo’s surest applause lines during the visit, belonged to his Argentine predecessor, Pope Francis. So did much of the week's adulation.

Francis’ fierce defense of the downtrodden made him a moral voice abroad but long embroiled him in political fights at home — controversy that many believe deterred him from returning as pope. More than a year after his death, the more measured Leo made the homecoming Francis never could, carrying on his legacy and helping Argentines embrace their once-polarizing pope as a unifying national figure.

“It’s as though it has finally become clear that Francis left a very important legacy, not just for Argentina but for the universal church,” said Pablo Forni, a sociologist at Argentina’s national research council, Conicet. “Leo is reaping what Francis sowed.”

Billboards welcoming Leo bore Francis’ face. Pilgrims waved signs declaring “Francisco y León, un solo corazón” — Francis and Leo, one heart. Even libertarian President Javier Milei, who once insulted Francis as “the representative of evil on earth," declared Francis “the most important Argentine in history” at Leo's welcome ceremony, bringing a packed hall of his political allies and foes to its feet.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis — then Jorge Mario Bergoglio — mobilized the church during Argentina’s 2001 economic crisis, sending priests into the slums and opening soup kitchens, schools and drug rehab centers as state services receded.

Yet once Francis moved to Rome as pontiff, Peronists became some of his…

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