Pope Leo draws 2.5 million in Buenos Aires, renews warning over Milei's austerity

An estimated 2.5 million people have attended Pope Leo's mass in Buenos Aires, his largest gathering yet. The pontiff once called for protecting the vulnerable as President Milei cuts disability care and social services.

An estimated 2.5 million people attended Pope Leo XIV 's open-air mass in Buenos Aires on Monday, according to local authorities, making the event the largest gathering of his papacy so far. Crowds stretched for miles along Avenida del Libertador in Argentina's capital, with the faithful waving Vatican flags and chanting "Long live Pope Leo!" as the US-born pope passed in an open-top popemobile.

The pope also reinforced an appeal to President Javier Milei to protect vulnerable Argentines, visiting a disability care home struggling with the government's cuts to health care and social services. Before the mass, Leo visited the Cottolengo Don Orione care center in Claypole, south of Buenos Aires, which houses more than 400 people with disabilities.