Pope Leo ends Argentina visit with Luján unity appeal

Pope Leo XIV concluded his visit to Argentina on Wednesday with a Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján and an appeal for reconciliation, then continued his South American trip to Peru. At the shrine, he ended his homily with the words, “Argentina, rise up and walk!”

The Vatican estimated that about 2 million people attended the Mass. Municipal authorities separately said more than 2.8 million people took part in this year’s annual pilgrimage to Luján, a record for the shrine. The figures refer to different events: attendance at Leo’s Mass and participation in the pilgrimage. No independent count of the Mass crowd was reported; preliminary estimates cited in one account ranged from about 2 million to more than 3 million.

Leo’s final day in Argentina began at Devoto Prison in Buenos Aires, where he met inmates before traveling to the shrine. The prison is closing as its more than 1,000 inmates are transferred to a new complex. It had served as a clandestine detention and torture center during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

In 1978, 65 inmates died in what became known as the Seventh Pavilion Massacre. A federal court sentenced two former prison chiefs to 25 years...