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Pope Leo XIV Urges Bishops to Support Families, Visits Care Home
· Confirmed
In Short: Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the care home in Claypole and his encouragement to bishops to support families facing challenges highlighted the importance of pastoral work and the need for continued support for vulnerable communities.
Pope Leo XIV concluded his South American tour on Wednesday, November 11, after a four-day visit to Argentina and Uruguay. During his stay, he praised the work of a care home for disabled people in Claypole, Argentina, which faces financial difficulties due to austerity policies.
The pope heard the testimonies of residents at the care home near Buenos Aires, emphasizing the importance of supporting those with disabilities. He noted, 'A nation’s progress is also measured by how it welcomes all people with disabilities and particular needs,' highlighting the challenges faced by such institutions.
In Claypole, Pope Leo XIV also met with volunteers and staff at the Don Orione Cottolengo network, whose flagship is the Claypole center. Leaders of Argentina’s bishops’ conference had previously cited this network as an example of an 'extremely serious financial crisis' due to delays and shortfalls in state funding.
During his visit to Argentina, Pope Leo XIV addressed the challenges faced by families in increasingly secularized societies. He urged Catholic bishops to accompany families facing 'limits, wounds and apparent failure,' continuing the pastoral approach of his predecessor, Pope Francis.
Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Argentina included stops in Buenos Aires, Claypole, Córdoba, and Luján. Father Máximo Jurvinovic, communications director for the Argentine bishops' conference, announced that a total of 25,077 volunteers registered to help at the various stops on the Pope's visit.
The pope’s itinerary included visits to five parishes in Rome, highlighting the papacy’s role in shepherding and governance. He emphasized the importance of the papacy in daily life, noting, 'The papacy begins not in ceremonies, but in shepherding.'
Pope Leo XIV’s final Argentine stops were overshadowed by his emotional return to Peru, where he spent much of his religious career as a missionary and bishop. He arrived in Peru on Wednesday for a six-day pastoral visit.
The visit to Peru was attended by President Javier Milei, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, and Presidential Secretary Karina Milei, who exchanged emotional farewells with the Pope.
During his visit, Pope Leo XIV also addressed a Vatican gathering marking the 10th anniversary of 'Amoris Laetitia,' Pope Francis’s teaching document on marriage and family. He encouraged bishops to support families facing challenges and to listen to the testimony of 11 married couples from five continents.
Some participants in the Pope’s visit traveled long distances to attend the celebrations. Bishop Roberto Álvarez of Rawson explained, 'Some participants come from towns located 2,100 or 2,200 kilometers (1,300 to 1,370 miles) away from the cities hosting the celebrations.'
Bishop Álvarez also expressed hope that the Pope’s visit would reduce political conflict in Argentina, stating, 'I would love the lasting legacy of the Pope’s visit to be a significant reduction in the level of conflict in political dialogue.'
Background
Pope Leo XIV concluded his South American tour, urging bishops to support families facing challenges, and visited a care home for disabled people in Argentina.
Two Peruvian bishops died days before Pope Leo XIV's upcoming visit to Peru.
What's confirmed
- CLAYPOLE, Argentina — Pope Leo XIV on Monday praised the work of a care home for disabled people that Argentina’s Catholic bishops have said is imperiled by the austerity policies of President Javier Milei.
- The pope heard the testimonies of residents at a care home near Buenos Aires.
- Catholic faithful hold an Argentine flag bearing images of the late Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV as they wait for Pope Leo XIV to arrive to celebrate Mass at Parque Paris Londres in Paysandu, Uruguay, Saturday, Nov.
- Pope Leo XIV arrives to celebrate vespers with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, and seminarians at the Metropolitan Cathedral, in Montevideo, Uruguay, on the first day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov.
What's still developing
- Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs will replace retiring Archbishop of Denver Samuel Aquila starting in March, Pope Leo XIV announced Saturday.
- Aquila introduced Golka, who was named bishop of the Diocese of Colorado Springs by Pope Francis in April 2021,during a news conference at the John Paul II Pastoral Center in Denver on Saturday morning.
- Luigi Orione in Claypole, Argentina (VATICAN MEDIA) BUENOS AIRES: The logo chosen for the Argentine leg of Pope Leo XIV’s Apostolic Journey to Latin America gives visual expression to the many Saints and Blesseds of a country with a long Christian tradition and a history of welcoming others.
- This is a temporary role, by which the Holy See ensures that the pastoral governance of a diocese will continue, when it is not possible for a diocesan Bishop to exercise his office.
- On each of the five Sundays of Lent, the Bishop of Rome will visit parish communities across the city’s five pastoral regions—bringing the papacy to places where daily life is lived with quiet faith, struggle, and hope.
- Albanese notes, from the earliest centuries “the Sea of Rome was relevant, important for the other churches,” and over time “the Bishop of Rome became the Pope.” Pope Leo XIV’s decision to spend Lent with Rome’s parishes highlights this ancient reality: the papacy begins not in ceremonies, but in shepherding.
- Among the many things you will be called to do as Bishops, this is the most important.
- And, speaking precisely to the Bishops attending a formation course on September 12, 2019, he said: «We exist to make this closeness palpable.» What valuable words for us!
- The Pope’s itinerary includes five parishes: Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Castro Pretorio, Ascension of Our Lord in the East, Our Lady of the Presentation in the West, and the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ponte Mammolo.
- Thirty-six hours by bus, more than 1,000 miles, and a shared desire: to meet Pope Leo XIV.
- In the far south of Argentina, the three dioceses of the Patagonian province of Chubut have organized several buses so that young people, priests, and religious can participate in meetings with the Pope in Buenos Aires and Córdoba.
- It has become increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media.