Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – The Pope's fourth day in Latin America began with a visit to the "Little Cottolengo." The Pontiff, on his second day in Argentina, after leaving the Apostolic Nunciature, traveled by car (including a ride in the Popemobile) to the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione de Claypole, where he visited the facility's staff and residents.
Then, at the Monumento de los Españoles, in Buenos Aires, the first Argentine mass.
There was a huge crowd for Leo XIV, who arrived in an open car among the faithful. Two and a half million people were present, according to the national police. Argentine President Javier Milei also attended the mass.
Yesterday, speaking to the authorities and civil society, he warned: “History teaches us how much a people can grow when their differences are transformed into opportunities for dialogue and encounter.
For this reason, democracy is also part of the legacy that must be safeguarded." The Pontiff also spoke of the family as "the fundamental cell of society," and today, during Mass at the Monumento de los Españoles, he highlighted the complicated dynamics of family life: "Our families sometimes experience complex situations: lack of stability, social difficulties, precarious employment, domestic violence, painful separations, and addictions that destroy and compromise family relationships."
“Amid all this suffering and crisis,” he observed, “the Word of God shines with hope for us: God is among us, we cannot fear.”
“Do not resign yourselves to the voices that repeat that the Christian family is outdated: on the contrary, today more than ever it represents a cornerstone among the many precarious situations of our era”, said Leone who invited us to open “the doors of your homes to Christ” and to speak “naturally about Jesus to your children, to remain united in Him”.
Leone, to the applause of the faithful, paid tribute to Pope Francis, who was Bishop of Buenos Aires, quoting a passage on the family from the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia: "'The family is called to share daily prayer, the reading of the Word of God, and Eucharistic communion to foster love and increasingly become a temple where the Spirit dwells.' Dear families, I urge you to become protagonists in evangelization! The Argentine Church needs you."
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