Pope Leo's visit to put spotlight on disability care debate

A home for disabled people on the outskirts of Buenos Aires is full of anticipation as it prepares to receive Pope Leo XIV, despite a growing controversy over state assistance for those with special needs.

With winding streets lined by flowering shrubs, a central square, workshops, 16 residential homes and even its own cemetery, Cottolengo Don Orione is almost like a small town. It houses 410 adults with disabilities, many of whom require permanent care.

The Pope will visit the residence on November 9 as part of his South American tour, which also includes stops in Uruguay and Peru.

Fears that the pontiff would cancel his trip following the removal of a cancerous lung tumor in mid-October did nothing to deter the feverish preparations.

Technical staff and logistics coordinators are now working on installing cameras for the official broadcast from the chapel in Claypole, where the residence is located.

"We're continuing to work in the same way," said coordinator Luciana Ponce, adding that "residents are also experiencing it with great anticipation."

"I'm happy about the Pope. I hope I can meet him," said 44-year-old resident Esteban as he took part in a ceramics workshop.

His fellow residents were busy making bread, painting and dancing.

"I hope he feels at home," Esteban added, carefully refining the rim of a cup he had just moulded.

Some of Cottolengo's 380 employees have also been praying for the Pope's health.

Budget cuts

Leo's visit to Argentina carries the same motto as an encyclical he published in May, which calls for "the poor, the sick, the migrants, the little ones" to become the "cornerstones" of a "solid and welcoming common home".

The trip also coincides with a mounting controversy over disability benefits in Argentina, which are under debate in Congress as part of discussions on the 2027 Budget.

President Javier Milei's government has proposed relaxing the framework for state support for people with disabilities, a reform that patients, organisations representing the sector and the opposition denounce as a covert budget cut.

The Catholic Church intervened in September, publishing a document titled "The Fragility That Makes Us Human", in which its Social Pastoral ministry questioned why disability care was being addressed solely from a budgetary perspective.

"In the face of vulnerability, the state's response must not be reduced to a mathematical equation," it said.

'Protagonists'

The Pope's 45-minute visit to Cottolengo will include a ceremony in the chapel, broadcast live to people outside, during which he will bless those present and listen to testimonies from two residents.

"We're going to remove all the pews so we can fit as many wheelchairs as possible. We want people with disabilities to be the protagonists," said Brother Jorge Silanes, the home's director.

Screens will be installed outside the grounds for the thousands of Catholic worshippers expected to attend. They will also be able to greet the pontiff as the Popemobile travels the one kilometre to the residence.

There will also be a moment away from the cameras, as Leo visits a ward housing residents who are bedridden.

Founded in 1936, the centre takes its name from Saint José Benito Cottolengo, an Italian priest who opened a home for the sick and marginalised in Turin in 1928.

The residence also bears the name of Don Orione, another Italian priest, canonised in 2004, who devoted his life to helping others.

His congregation now runs homes in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, housing around 1,300 people in total.