教皇利奥十四世访问阿根廷，与“电锯总统”米莱谈穷人与经济

During his twenty years in Peru, he often rode horseback for most of a day just to say Mass in a village not even connected by road.

Now he is Pope Leo XIV, born in Chicago; his plane landed in Buenos Aires, with a red carpet laid out at the foot of the stairs.

Coming forward to greet him was Argentine President Javier Milei, and the two shook hands at the airport.

The last time a Roman pope set foot on Argentine soil was John Paul II in 1987, nearly forty years ago.

This South American trip lasts twelve days and covers three countries; Argentina is one stop.

Milei is a libertarian economist; austerity is the hallmark of his government, and its most iconic image is a chainsaw.

He calls social welfare an aberration and keeps slashing state spending.

The pope and he held closed-door talks at the presidential palace for half an hour.

Afterwards the two went together to the Palacio Libertad, a cultural center, where they shared a stage and each gave a speech.

Milei spoke first, with the pope sitting on the stage behind him: "Your Holiness, thank you for coming. I ask you to pray for Argentina."

Then it was the pope's turn; he said the economy should serve people, not make people serve the economy.

This line drew warm applause from the whole hall.

He did not name names, but he asked those in politics to choose their words carefully, so as to safeguard democracy.

Milei himself is known for his sharp tongue; he once called the previous pope, Francis, "the representative of evil on earth."

At the same event, he said Francis was the most important figure in Argentine history, and that "his humanity inspired all of us."

Earlier this year, Cardinal Rossi, Archbishop of Córdoba, said at Mass that there exists "a certain cruelty at the level of the state and institutions."

In Argentina's Catholic Church, Rossi's standing is second only to the pope himself.

In the Plaza de Mayo, clergy took to the streets, joining protests against cuts to pensions and disability benefits.

Argentina's poverty rate has already fallen from over forty percent when Milei took office to around thirty percent.

But figures from the polling firm Aurelio show that nearly seventy percent of Argentines see the economic situation as negative.

In a slum beside the railway in Buenos Aires, Father Toto's parish runs eight soup kitchens, where about two hundred people come to eat every day.

He says the number of people coming is still growing.

"If inflation has been stopped and poverty has fallen somewhat, here you simply can't see it—quite the opposite."

In the coming days, the pope will visit a center for the disabled and also meet with trade unionists.