2 million attend Pope Leo’s final Argentina event ahead of Peru homecoming
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million → attend → homecoming
Published Nov. 11, 2026, 1:32 p.m. ET
LUJAN, Argentina, Nov. 11, (Reuters) – Pope Leo wrapped up his visit to Argentina on Wednesday with a final event drawing 2 million people, before continuing on his 12-day South America tour with a visit to Peru in an emotional homecoming for the first Peruvian citizen to lead the Catholic Church.
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Leo → publish → Church
Leo, on a three-nation tour through Nov. 17, celebrated an outdoor Mass at the shrine of Our Lady of Lujan, Argentina’s most important Catholic devotional site, where throngs of pilgrims gathered for days in advance for a chance to see him.
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throngs → celebrate → him
Crowds stretched for miles outside the shrine, about an hour west of Buenos Aires.
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Crowds → stretch → Aires
People pressed against security barriers, chanting “Leo, Leo, Leo” and waving white-and-yellow Vatican flags as he arrived in an open-air popemobile.
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he → press → popemobile
Some in the crowd had walked as far as 10 km (six miles) to arrive, as many streets, including a main highway, were closed as a security measure.
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streets → walk → measure
In his sermon, Leo asked God to protect Argentina and urged Argentines to have a place for everyone in their society, “especially those who are most in need: the poor and the hungry, migrants, the sick and prisoners.”
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who → ask → need
The pope on Wednesday also visited one of Argentina’s largest penitentiaries, where he hugged several inmates and urged guards to treat detainees humanely, amid a three-day visit to Argentina that has highlighted the Church’s criticism of President Javier Milei’s cuts to social programs.
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that → visit → programs
The pope, who has US and Peruvian citizenship, will then begin a personal leg of the most intense overseas trip by a pope in decades, returning to the place he served as a missionary for about 20 years before becoming pope last year.
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he → have → years
Leo began the trip less than a month after lung cancer surgery and has appeared in good form over the intense itinerary, giving long speeches in a firm, clear voice.
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Leo → begin → voice
The Peru visit, expected to include emotional scenes as the pope visits old friends and spends three days in the northern city of Chiclayo, where he was bishop from 2015 to 2023, will also test how directly he is willing to wade into the politics of his adopted nation.
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he → expect → nation
Crowds for Leo’s visit to Argentina have been intense, with the pope drawing more than 6 million people across his visit.
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pope → draw → visit
A Mass in Buenos Aires on Monday was the largest single event yet of his 18-month papacy, drawing 2.5 million.
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Mass → draw → million
Leo is due to land at Peru’s Callao Air Base at 5:30 p.m. (2230 GMT).
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Leo → land → p.m.
After a brief welcome ceremony, he will head to the presidential palace for a closely watched address to President Keiko Fujimori, who was elected this year in one of Peru’s closest elections, marred by fraud accusations and vote-counting delays.
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who → head → accusations
Fujimori is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who was in office from 1990 to 2000 and died in 2024.
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who → die → 2024
Her victory marked the return of one of Peru’s most influential and polarizing political dynasties.
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victory → mark → dynasties
In 2017, Leo, then known as Bishop Robert Prevost, criticized the late Fujimori’s pardon.
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Leo → know → pardon
He said the former president, who had been convicted of serious human rights abuses, should personally seek forgiveness from victims if Peru was to achieve genuine reconciliation.
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Peru → say → reconciliation
Keiko Fujimori leaned heavily on her father’s political legacy during her presidential campaign.
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Fujimori → lean → campaign
“It’s not just a pastoral visit by the pope to his flock, but a visit to his home,” said Jose Luis Guadalupe Pérez, an academic at Peru’s Pacific University.
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Pérez → ’ → University
Leo’s intimate knowledge of Peru, he added, means “he is bound to step on some toes.”
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he → add → toes
Peru has prepared for the homecoming with fervor: a 14-meter (46-foot) statue depicting Leo with outstretched arms towers over a seaside park in Callao, merchants in Lima sell pope-themed shirts and souvenirs, and inmates at the country’s largest women’s prison have stitched velvet dolls bearing his likeness.
The Peru leg caps Leo’s first tour of South America as pope, where he has appealed for political dialogue and greater unity across a divided region.
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he → prepare → region
Politics of the past
Martin Cassinelli, an analyst at the Atlantic Council, said Leo’s Peruvian roots give him an unusual ability to speak about the country’s political past.
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roots → say → past
“There’s no other country where the Pope is as attuned to the domestic politics of that country than Peru,” Cassinelli said.
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Cassinelli → ’ → Peru
“If there’s anything that could potentially be at odds with the current Fujimori government, it would be a reflection on the past.”
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it → ’ → past
Church figures also opposed the 1995 amnesty for members of the security forces accused of rights abuses.
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figures → oppose → abuses
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