Pope Leo XIV to visit a home for people with disabilities near Buenos Aires on November 9

Preparations for the visit

Pope Leo XIV will visit the Cottolengo Don Orione center on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on November 9 — a home for people with disabilities that accommodates 410 adults, many of whom require constant care. The visit will be part of the pontiff's South American tour, which also includes Uruguay and Peru. The report comes from AFP. Concerns that the trip might be canceled after the removal of a cancerous lung tumor in mid-October did not halt the preparations: the center's coordinator, Luciana Ponce, said work is continuing as usual, and the residents are eagerly awaiting the visit. “I am happy about the pope. I hope I will be able to meet him,” said Esteban, a 44-year-old resident of the center.

Program of the visit

The visit will last 45 minutes and will include a ceremony broadcast live to people outside: the pope will bless those present and listen to testimonies from two residents of the center. Director Jorge Cianes said the benches will be removed to fit as many wheelchairs as possible: “We want people with disabilities to be the main protagonists.” Outside the grounds, the ceremony will be shown on screens for the thousands of expected faithful, who will be able to greet the pontiff as the popemobile drives one kilometer to the home. Cameras will not accompany the pope during his visit to the ward for bedridden patients. The center was founded in 1936 and is named after Saint Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo; the Don Orione congregation runs homes in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, where a total of about 1,300 people live.

The visit amid disputes over aid to people with disabilities

The trip coincides with an escalating controversy over disability benefits in Argentina, which are being discussed as part of the 2027 budget. Ultra-liberal President Javier Milei wants to weaken state obligations to provide assistance to people with disabilities, which patients, organizations, and the opposition compare to a hidden budget cut. In September, the Catholic Church intervened in the dispute by publishing a document titled “The Fragility That Makes Us Human,” which questioned why care for people with disabilities is viewed solely from a budgetary standpoint: “In the face of vulnerability, the state's response must not be reduced to a mathematical equation.” The visit to the home for people with disabilities takes place under the same motto as the encyclical published by Leo XIV in May — on the poor, the sick, migrants, and the “least” as the cornerstone of a “solid and welcoming common home.”