First Formal Meeting at the Casa Rosada
The General Secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei, has convened the Argentine Episcopal Conference (CEA) for a working meeting to be held this Tuesday, August 18, at 5:00 PM at the Government House, according to the Episcopate. This meeting marks the formal start of coordination for the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Argentina, which will take place between November 8 and 11 and will include the cities of Buenos Aires, Luján, and Córdoba.
Representing the Church will be the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Monsignor Jorge García Cuerva, along with priests Matías Taricco and Máximo Jurcinovic, who are part of the National Commission for the Preparation of the Visit created by the CEA. The commission also includes the President of the Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Marcelo Colombo; the General Secretary, Monsignor Raúl Pizarro; the Archbishop of Mercedes-Luján, Monsignor Jorge Eduardo Scheinig, and Monsignor Alejandro Musolino.
What Will Be Discussed at the Meeting
According to organizational sources cited by Infobae, the meeting will include national officials and representatives from the Buenos Aires City government, in addition to ecclesiastical representatives. This initial stage will focus exclusively on matters related to the Pope's routes through various sites in Buenos Aires, so officials from Córdoba and Buenos Aires Province have not yet been invited.
The interdisciplinary working group was only assembled after the Vatican confirmed two weeks ago that Argentina was included in the Holy Father's tour of Latin America. The Pope will arrive in the country after his trip to Uruguay and before departing for Peru, where he served as a missionary and bishop.
Key topics to coordinate include the official reception, activities with representatives of the Executive Branch, and security operations, which will involve street closures along the papal caravan route. National authorities have already announced that, as this is an official visit, the Pope will have a private meeting with President Javier Milei.
The Vatican Delegation and Preparatory Visits
In parallel, it has been confirmed that the second visit of the Vatican team will arrive in the country at the end of August, as reported by La Voz del Interior. The delegation, larger than the previous one, will be led by the coordinator of papal trips, Mexican priest José Nahúm Jairo Salas Castañeda. During this visit, the official itinerary will be further defined.
Salas Castañeda, born in Santa Clara, Durango (Mexico), was ordained a priest in 2008 and has served as Coordinator of Apostolic Journeys for Pope Leo XIV since June 2025. He previously held diplomatic posts in Burundi (2013-2016), Iraq (2016-2019), and Hungary (2019-2023), where he participated in organizing two trips for Pope Francis.
Before an apostolic journey, the Vatican's advance team typically conducts three main preparatory visits to the destination country. It is expected that two weeks before the official November visit, the Vatican team will return to Argentina to finalize the details.
Context: Tensions Between the Church and the Government
The rapprochement between the Church and the Casa Rosada comes amid strong differences in the social sphere. On August 7, before a large crowd gathered at the San Cayetano shrine in Liniers, Archbishop García Cuerva stated that “economic freedom cannot be absolute” and called for being “empathetic with those most in need.” In his homily, he addressed family debt, rising prices, and the need for dialogue, criticizing the ruling class for launching “insults” while “looking the other way.”
Joint work between the Church and the Government has been underway for two months, with active participation from Chancellor Pablo Quirno and the Secretary of Worship and Civilization of the Nation, Pablo Caulo, who traveled to the Vatican in recent weeks.