Pope Leo XIV met with representatives of the Church at the Cathedral of Córdoba

In the context of the third day of his historic apostolic visit to the Republic of Argentina, Pope León XIV led a significant meeting with the ecclesiastical leadership and the consecrated Mediterranean leadership at the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, located in front of the Plaza San Martín in the city of Córdoba. In a gathering characterized by fervent enthusiasm and a call for the ethical renewal of institutions, the Holy Father brought together bishops, priests, deacons, religious, religious women, seminarians, and pastoral agents after touring the urban center at noon aboard the popemobile. The event reconfigured the pastoral commitment of the Catholic Church under a categorical premise: authentic social assistance must be inseparable from spiritual transcendence, discarding any collectivist or assistentialist deviation and converging with the ethical horizon that drives the management of President Javier Milei.

The opening of the ceremony was marked by the words of the Archbishop of Córdoba, Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi, who, despite experiencing brief technical issues with his microphone, delivered a heartfelt message of gratitude to the Pontiff emphasizing: “Thanks be to God, there is much priestly life in this land. May God free us from being consecrated with our eyes blindfolded”.

Next, Laura, a consecrated member of the diocese of Santo Tomé, gave a moving testimony about the illness affecting her vision and the need to rediscover the meaning of "getting our hands dirty", not from mere activism, but by staying, caring, and allowing oneself to be cared for. Likewise, Sister María Elisabeth evoked one of the contemplations from the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, setting the tone of doctrinal introspection that characterized the entire day.

During his ministry in the main temple of Córdoba, Pope León XIV was emphatic in recognizing the wounds of the social fabric, warning that “hunger and injustices press and demand a response”. The Pontiff rigorously enumerated the hardships suffered by the most vulnerable sectors: hunger, illness, loneliness, lack of work, and lack of decent housing. However, in a direct rejection of assistentialist logics that degrade the individual, the Holy Father explicitly cited Pope Francis to alert that “the worst discrimination that the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual attention” (according to the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, numeral 200).

Reaffirming the supreme purpose of the proclamation of the Gospel against ideological instrumentalization, León XIV invoked the papal catechesis of October 23, 2013: “The Church is not a business, it is not a humanitarian agency, the Church is not an NGO; the Church is sent to bring everyone to Christ and his Gospel. […] If hypothetically it ever happened that the Church does not bring Jesus, that would be a dead Church”.

Diving deeper into the Ignatian method, His Holiness broke down the stages of spiritual guidance based on the rules of the Basque saint's work. Invoking numeral 23 of the Principle and Foundation, the Holy Father posed the pivotal question: What are we here for?, warning about the paradoxical risk of “working a lot for God and spending less and less time with God”. In light of this, he urged a return to the fervor of the Eucharist, prayer, and the Word to care for "that fire" of vocation.

When addressing the examinations of conscience contained in numerals 32 to 43 (What has been disordered in us?, In what have we failed God?), he denounced vices such as hardness towards others, resistance to being corrected, rivalries, attachments, and false pastoral justifications, asserting firmly that “there is no age at which one can do without conversion”.

He also reviewed the figure of Christ, the Eternal King (numerals 91 to 98), the meditations of Two Standards, Three Binary Choices, and the Election (numerals 136 to 189), citing the learning of the young Julián in Mass, the accompaniment in the Passion (numerals 190 to 217), the ministry of consolation in the Resurrection (numeral 224; Matthew 28:7) and the Contemplation to attain love (numerals 230 to 237), highlighting the famous prayer from numeral 234: “Take, Lord, and receive…”.

In his homage to holiness with a Creole accent, León XIV exalted the example of the venerable Mama Antula, who arrived in Buenos Aires barefoot and carrying only a crucifix; of Saint José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero (Cura Brochero), who traversed the mountains with his mule and continued his apostolate blind and suffering from leprosy; of Saint Héctor Valdivielso (Saint Héctor Valdivielso Sáez, first Argentine saint), martyred at the age of 24 after completing his annual exercises; and of blessed Ceferino Namuncurá, who died before reaching 19 years.

Also evoking Father Martín, Laura, and his own recent hospitalization, the Supreme Pontiff urged the use of technology for evangelization. In conclusion, invoking the commission of Saint Mark (Mark 16:15) ("from La Quiaca to Ushuaia, and to the last corner of the earth") and the confession of Saint Matthew (Matthew 16:16), His Holiness closed his historic address at the Catedral de Córdoba urging the consecrated to look at the homeland with eyes of faith: “Dream of a Church that continues to make a mess, as your fellow countryman Francisco asked you!” (citing the historic speech in Rio de Janeiro on July 25, 2013), entrusting the destiny of the Argentine people to the unwavering protection of Our Lady of Luján.