When Pope Leo XIV arrives in Argentina on November 8, he will be only the second pontiff in history to visit the country. 

The only pope who had made the trip until now was John Paul II, who visited twice in the 1980s against very different political backdrops. 

While the first was a hastily arranged “peace pilgrimage” of barely 30 hours in the midst of the 1982 Malvinas War, the second was a seven-day visit in 1987 that drew enormous crowds across a country that was just under four years removed from the most vicious dictatorship in its history. 

Pope Leo XIV will, of course, encounter a much different Argentina. 

For once, the country has not been involved in armed conflicts since the war in the South Atlantic and celebrated 40 years of uninterrupted democratic rule in 2023. Data also shows that Catholicism, while still a central feature of Argentine identity, is no longer the driving force it once was. 

Other issues, however, like the country’s economic woes, remain an ever-present problem. 

War and a nascent democracy under pressure

On June 11, 1982, Karol Wojtyla arrived in Buenos Aires as a self-described “messenger of peace,” seeking to bring an end to the war over the South Atlantic islands. He had already scheduled a visit to Britain and wanted to avoid any perception that the trip reflected political favoritism toward either side.

He met privately with dictator Leopoldo Galtieri and celebrated an outdoor mass attended by an estimated 2 million people. He also celebrated mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, Argentina’s principal Marian shrine, in Buenos Aires province.

Two days later, Argentina surrendered.

John Paul II’s second visit, from April 6 to 12, 1987, is part of Argentina’s collective memory. He traveled to ten cities across the country, from Buenos Aires to Salta, Mendoza, and Viedma, drawing enormous crowds wherever he went.

President Raúl Alfonsín had been in office for just over three years following the end of the dictatorship. For many Argentines, the return of democracy carried enormous moral weight after years of repression, disappearances, and censorship.

Optimism, however, was beginning to fade by the time the pope visited. 

On April 15,........

© Buenos Aires Herald