On his third day in Argentina, Pope Leo XIV traveled to its second-largest city, Córdoba, which is located in the heart of the country and which he described in his homily as “a home of saints.” He reminded the 650,000 people at the Mass he concelebrated, and the millions following on television or by radio, that “we are called to holiness” and that “this calling is always missionary.”
Leo, the missionary Augustinian pope, has throughout his visit recalled the Christian history and tradition of this vast country of 46 million people, 35 percent of them under the age of 25, and has sought to encourage them to put Christ at the center of their lives and follow him. He did so in a striking way today in his homily at Mass on the grounds of the Military Aviation School, outside Córdoba.
After a one-hour flight from Buenos Aires, he traveled 12 miles by car to the site. All along the way, great crowds turned out to see him, many of them young people waving Argentine flags and seeking to get photos or videos with their smartphones.
On arrival at the school, he rode among an enthusiastic crowd in his popemobile, accompanied by Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi, the Jesuit archbishop of this city.
Afterward, he concelebrated Mass with 100 bishops and some 1,000 priests, all dressed in white; the celebration was accompanied by music and powerful singing.
After the reading of the Gospel, Leo spoke from under a large canopied platform and in his homily told the crowd, “Today, here in Córdoba, at the geographic heart of the country, we wish to give thanks to God for the diverse fruits of holiness borne by the men and women whom the Lord sent to this land of Argentina—whether they were born here or spent most of their lives here.”
They had “different charisms and missions,” he said, “and offer a polyphonic witness to the universal call to holiness of every baptized person: the call to be conformed to Christ.” These Argentinians were united by “a passion for the Gospel and a commitment to building a fraternal and compassionate homeland,” he added. “All of them knew how to rise to the challenges of their time, transforming them into opportunities to proclaim the Good News—not theoretically, but by shaping their lives to become credible and effective witnesses to Christ’s love.”
He mentioned two people in particular who have had a strong influence in this region of Argentina: the gaucho (cowboy) priest known as the Cura Brochero and María Antonia de San José de Paz y Figueroa, popularly known as Mama Antula. They were both influenced by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, he said. Significantly, too, both were canonized by Pope Francis.
Speaking of the Cura Brochero (1840-1914)—an image of the poor Christ that the saint had carved while lying on his sickbed was displayed near the altar—Leo said: “This priest was truly in love with the Lord and knew how to draw strength for his life from prayer. The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola changed his life forever and conformed him to Christ.”
Leo added, “Only those who have experienced friendship with Jesus Christ are capable of undertaking the task of evangelization; only those who know they are loved by the Lord are capable of extending his kingdom of charity and justice, devoting all their energies to proclaiming the Gospel, armed with nothing but the crucifix and the holy rosary.”
Referring to Mama Antula, he said: “[She] knew how to combine contemplation with service to neighbor, recognizing that the greatest act of fraternal charity is to bring others closer to God. As my revered predecessor Pope Francis reminded us, the poor need God and people who express the power of Christian love in their lives.” He recalled that “Mama Antula tirelessly traveled the length and breadth of this country to show countless people the path to heaven. Indeed, her guiding principle was to go wherever God was unknown, in order to make him known.”
Leo told the crowd, “We also give thanks to God for the martyrs who confessed their faith even to the point of laying down their own lives,” and he mentioned “St. Héctor Valdivielso Sáez and the Argentinian blesseds who suffered martyrdom during the Spanish Civil War and in the Argentine provinces of La Rioja and Salta.”
In his homily, the pope recalled many more Argentinians who were renowned for their following of Christ, in what amounted to a litany of Argentine saints. Last night at the cathedral in Buenos Aires he remembered Bishop Enrique Angelelli, who was killed during the military dictatorship here, and today he recalled by name various other saintly people, including the “foundresses of religious congregations,” and “many other religious women, who, moved by ardent charity, dedicated their lives to the education of children and the care of the sick.” He also remembered several laypeople “who lived out their baptismal vocation to the fullest, loving God and their brothers and sisters in the simplicity of daily life.”
Leo told the crowd, which applauded many times during his homily: “These saints and blesseds have already fulfilled their mission on earth. Today, it is our turn to follow the radiant example of holiness they have left with us.”
He told the Argentinians present on this Tuesday, which the government has declared a local public holiday, “We celebrate this Holy Mass for the sanctification of the people of Argentina, for the sanctification of all of you.”
Just as he did at the “mega-Mass” in Buenos Aires yesterday, today he called on all Argentinians: “Open your hearts, and with God’s grace, go forth and be holy: at school and in the town square, in family life and with friends, in the countryside and in the city, on the farm and in the office. Go and evangelize!”
After Mass, Leo met with 20 people who live in various forms of vulnerability, exclusion or drug addiction, chosen to meet the pope by Cardinal Rossi. Among them was Alba Camargo, whose parents were among those who disappeared during the military dictatorship in the country (1976-83); she is working to discover what happened to them and to other disappeared persons whose fate is still unknown.
He then went into the city of Córdoba, known in Argentina as La Docta (“the learned one”) for its university tradition and for the presence of the Jesuits who left a mark on its cultural and religious life. Córdoba is home to the famous Manzana Jesuítica (“Jesuit block”), a 17th-century complex that includes colonial churches and the National University of Córdoba, the oldest university in the country, founded in 1613 (with origins as a Jesuit college around 1610).
On arrival in Córdoba, he went to the residence of Cardinal Rossi, where he had lunch and, from the balcony of the archbishopric, greeted the large crowd gathered in the area below, speaking off the cuff before blessing them.
Afterward, the ever-energetic pope went to Córdoba’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, where, after being welcomed by Cardinal Rossi, he delivered a profoundly spiritual but also very concrete talk to the bishops, clergy, deacons, consecrated men and women, seminarians, and pastoral workers. He began by reminding them that after responding generously to God’s first call and having dedicated their life wholeheartedly to the Lord, “over the years, something paradoxical can happen: We can work hard for God, yet spend less and less time with him,” and “we may end up relying more on what we do than on the one for whom we do it.”
The pope developed his address entirely around the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, and in doing so also referred a number of times to Pope Francis.
Leo then boarded the plane back to Buenos Aires, and this evening he will participate in a youth vigil at the Monumento de los Españoles, which is expected to draw a large crowd.
Tomorrow morning, he goes to the national shrine of Our Lady of Luján to celebrate Mass before boarding the plane to Lima, the capital of Peru, for the third and final leg of his long journey.
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