Pope Leo XIV will conclude his visit to Argentina on Wednesday with two important moments: a meeting with inmates at a prison with a history linked to the country’s military dictatorship, and a final Mass at Argentina’s national shrine. These stops have strong sentimental ties to Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, but they will be overshadowed by the emotional peak of his journey through South America, his return home to Peru later on Wednesday.
A large national celebration has been planned to welcome Leo, who spent more than two decades as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru. Peruvians know him as Padre Robert, and he is cherished for his service to poor communities, especially in times of crisis. This reflects the deep bond and affection the Peruvian people have for the Pope.
In Buenos Aires, Pope Leo XIV had been scheduled to visit Devoto Prison, where Pope Francis often served when he was archbishop of the city. Francis celebrated Masses, visited the cells of inmates with HIV and washed the feet of prisoners during the annual Holy Week ritual. The prison, inaugurated in 1927, is currently undergoing final closure and the transfer of more than 1,000 of its inmates to a new penitentiary complex.
During the last military dictatorship (1976–1983), Devoto functioned as a clandestine detention and torture center, and it was designated a Site of Memory in 2012 to ensure that the military repression is not forgotten. Human rights activist lawyers have asked courts to prevent any decision involving the sale or transfer of the prison’s land and buildings, stressing that “the space must be preserved until investigations into the crimes against humanity committed there are finalized.” In 1978, 65 ordinary inmates were killed in a massacre known as the Massacre of Pavilion Seven, which the courts have tried as an act of state violence. In December 2025, a federal court sentenced former prison chiefs Juan Carlos Ruiz and Horacio Martín Galíndez to 25 years in prison for torturing 153 detainees and the deaths of 65 of them.
Leo has continued Francis’ legacy of meeting with inmates during his foreign trips, to remind them that they are not alone and are still beloved children of God. After the prison visit, Pope Leo will make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, dedicated to Argentina’s patron saint. This town, about 72 kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires, asked pilgrims to arrive days earlier because of the event’s large scale and the extensive security deployment. The basilica is expecting one of the largest demonstrations of faith in Argentina, with millions of pilgrims taking part each year, as happened this year with 2.8 million participants, a record for the shrine.
Source: AP News