Another record crowd, more than two million at the mass in Lujan. The Pope wishes Argentina paths of reconciliation.

Record numbers again in Argentina for the Pope. More than two million faithful attended the Mass at Lujan, his final engagement in the country, filling the square and the avenues in front of the basilica and the entire surrounding area. These are the figures provided by local authorities and released by the Vatican press office. In his homily, the Pope praised the people of this land. "I was able to see the richness of Argentina, not only in its geography but also in its people, in each of the encounters, in the squares and streets, in the creativity, the spontaneity and the life that overflows at every step." "I thank God for the opportunity to meet this people so dear to me, who open their doors to everyone, who share their bread and their music, where there is always a place at the table for whoever arrives, a free moment to chat over a mate, a helping hand for those in need," Pope Leo XIV emphasized. The Pope then entrusted the Argentine people to the Virgin of Lujan, asking her: "Accompany the Argentine people on their journey. Help them to build bridges of charity and networks of solidarity; stir in them the impulse to continue along paths of reconciliation, communion and mission," he said in the homily of the Mass. "Argentina, rise up and walk!" said Prevost, recalling that his pontificate began on May 8, the very feast day of the Virgin of Lujan. Video The Pope with the relatives of the desaparecidos, an open wound in Argentina In the morning the Pope visited a tragically historic place in Buenos Aires, the Villa Devoto prison, which has a century of history and will soon be decommissioned. Many prisoners have already been transferred to other detention facilities. Many incidents have marked this prison, but the gravest occurred during the last military dictatorship: 65 inmates died in the massacre of "Ward Seven" (Pabellón Séptimo), which took place on March 14, 1978. Judicial investigations and testimony gathered afterwards established that the victims suffered burns, smoke inhalation, gunshot wounds and physical assaults during the repression inside the prison. Between 1976 and 1983, the Devoto prison was also a clandestine center of detention and torture. The facility held political prisoners and people who, after being "disappeared," were formally entered into the prison system. In 2012, the prison was designated a "site of memory." The Pope, on his last day in Buenos Aires, chose to visit the inmates of the Buenos Aires Federal Penitentiary Complex. "This place, in its structure and organization, shows the harshness of imprisonment: the impossibility of leaving freely, of embracing your children every day, and the experience of other forms of deprivation. I imagine your sleepless nights — Leo XIV said — spent longing for your loved ones or reflecting on those you may have harmed. I am aware of your disappointments: not having found a helping hand, someone who had faith in you or who helped you get back on your feet and move forward precisely when it was most needed. It may indeed seem that all this is an open wound destined never to heal." But the Pontiff points out that it is still possible to keep hope alive. "I would like to emphasize that prison is also a place of profound changes and conversions: journeys of growth, learning and the acquisition of new skills and knowledge. It is a place where there are people who, after experiencing human fragility in its most painful form, have been able to transform the desert of their existence into a fertile garden." For Leo XIV it is in fact "possible to pass from absolute darkness to the lighting of small lights of hope. Glimmers that radiate outward as well: toward your families, toward those who work here and toward society as a whole." "The time spent in this Institution can represent the occasion for a new beginning: an opportunity to reconcile with God and to rejoin your family and society without fear," the Pope concluded, reiterating that "another life is possible," "all of us, myself first, must keep this in our hearts." Today is the Pope's last day in Argentina: in the afternoon he will fly to Peru, the final country of this apostolic journey in South America. In the morning, in Buenos Aires, at 8 (12 Italian time) he will visit the city's prison. Then the transfer to Lujan for the Mass, at 10 (14 Italian time). At 14 (18 Italian time) the Pope will leave Buenos Aires to fly to Lima. Arrival is scheduled for 17:30 (23:30 Italian time). Immediately afterward the first engagements will take place: the greeting to President Keiko Fujimori and the meeting with the authorities. Yesterday, in the meeting with the young people of Buenos Aires, the Pope issued an appeal not to be deceived by the new idols of the world. "Even today idols rise up that demand our adoration: success at any price, money, the obsession with physical appearance, with popularity or with the unrestrained pursuit of pleasure. At times — Pope Leo said during the vigil at the Monumento de los Españoles — to gain the approval of others, we may lie, betray or humiliate someone on social networks. Envy can prevent us from rejoicing in the good of others, and selfishness can lead us to treat people as objects. There are also those who do business offering pleasures that end up enslaving us, such as pornography and various substances." Then the appeal: "You are called to stand upright before the idols of our time. Do not kneel before what cannot give you life! And if you have ever fallen, rise up again! Do not allow anything or anyone to take away the freedom God has given you." "Todos, todos, todos," "everyone, everyone, everyone": at the vigil with the young people in Buenos Aires too, the Pope once again recalled Bergoglio. Repeating the words of Pope Francis, spoken at World Youth Day in Lisbon in August 2023, Leo XIV emphasized: "He spoke them with that insistence so characteristic of him, as one who wants to make sure that no one goes unheard. I would like to draw inspiration from those words to speak about what it means to live as disciples of Jesus: everyone toward Christ, everyone with Christ, everyone like Christ." Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA