Pope Leo XIV will visit the Pequeño Cottolengo Argentino Don Orione this Monday, November 9, at 9:15 a.m., a residential care center for people with disabilities located in Claypole, in the Buenos Aires district of Almirante Brown, south of Greater Buenos Aires. This is stated in the program of the apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru released by the Holy See, which schedules the Pope’s stay in Argentina between November 8 and 11.
The visit comes the day after his arrival at Aeroparque, where he was received by President Javier Milei, as reported by InfoVaticana. According to the program, the Pontiff will leave the Apostolic Nunciature at 8:00 a.m. and will meet with staff and residents at the center in a closed-door event. Singer Abel Pintos will perform for him during the visit.
A facility with more than 400 residents
The Cottolengo occupies a large property with homes, a shrine, a therapeutic educational center and workshops, and serves more than 400 people with motor, verbal or psychosocial disabilities. It is named after Saint Louis Orione, founder of the congregation that runs it and whose heart is preserved in the shrine on the grounds. The Pope is expected to enter in the popemobile through the main entrance on Lacaze Avenue and visit the “high-demand” home located opposite the shrine.
The visit coincides with a debate on public funding for disability services in Argentina. The Episcopal Conference alerted the Ministry of Health in April about the institution’s debt situation, and a planned cut in the 2027 budget drew criticism until the Government reversed it.
The rest of the Argentine agenda
After the Cottolengo, the Pope will return to the capital to preside at 11:30 a.m. over Mass at the Monument to the Spaniards in Palermo. In the afternoon, at 4:10 p.m., he will meet with the world of labor at the Catholic University of Argentina and, at 5:30 p.m., with leaders of Christian communities and other faiths at the San Martín Palace. The day will conclude with Vespers at the metropolitan cathedral at 6:45 p.m. and a dinner with the bishops at the archdiocesan headquarters.
On Tuesday the 10th he will travel to Córdoba, where he will celebrate Mass, and in the evening he will preside over a vigil with young people in Buenos Aires. On Wednesday the 11th, his last day in the country, he will visit a prison complex and celebrate Mass at 10:00 a.m. in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján before departing for Lima. The 9th is a national holiday in Argentina due to the visit.
This marks the first papal trip to Argentina since John Paul II’s in 1987, and the first to the homeland of Francis.