Pope Leo XIV concludes Argentina visit with prison visit and Luján pilgrimage ahead of Peru return

POPE LEO XIV will close his Argentine leg of the tour on Wednesday with two significant stops: a visit to a prison linked to the nation’s military dictatorship and a final Mass at Argentina’s principal shrine.

Both locations hold deep emotional resonance for his predecessor, Pope Francis, yet they will be overshadowed by the highlight of his South American journey: his return home to Peru later in the day.

A large‑scale national celebration is planned to welcome Leo back to Peru, where he served for more than two decades as a missionary priest and bishop and is affectionately known as Padre Robert. He is praised for his work with impoverished communities, especially during crises.

In Buenos Aires, Leo is scheduled to tour the Devoto Penitentiary, where Pope Francis, during his tenure as archbishop, regularly held services, visited cells holding inmates with AIDS, and performed the Holy Thursday foot‑washing rite.

Opened in 1927, the facility is now in its final phase of closure, with its more than 1,000 inmates being transferred to a new correctional complex.

During the 1976‑1983 military dictatorship, the site functioned as a secret detention and torture center. It was officially designated a Memory Site in 2012 to preserve the memory of the military repression.

Human‑rights attorneys have petitioned the courts to prohibit any sale or disposal of the prison’s grounds and buildings until investigations into the crimes against humanity committed there are concluded, arguing that the space must remain intact for justice.

In 1978, 65 ordinary inmates were killed in an incident later dubbed the Seventh Pavilion Massacre. The dictatorship officially concealed the event, but judicial inquiry established it as an act of state‑sponsored violence.

In December 2025, a federal court sentenced former prison officials Juan Carlos Ruiz and Horacio Martín Galíndez to 25 years in prison for torturing 153 detainees and causing the deaths of 65 during the fire that followed the massacre and the subsequent violent repression. Both men were over 90 years old at the time of sentencing.

Pope Leo XIV carries forward Pope Francis’s practice of meeting with inmates on his international trips, underscoring that they are not alone and remain beloved children of God. His most recent such encounter, at a prison in Equatorial Guinea, was marked by a somber moment when inmates were compelled to sing and dance for him in pouring rain.

Following the prison visit, Leo will undertake a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, the nation’s principal shrine dedicated to its patron saint.

The municipality of Luján, located about 72 kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires, has urged pilgrims to arrive several days in advance because of the event’s magnitude and the extensive security and logistical arrangements.

The basilica draws one of the largest expressions of faith in Argentina. Every October, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walk from Buenos Aires and surrounding towns to offer thanks or make petitions to the Virgin of Luján, to whom Pope Francis was especially devoted.

This year’s pilgrimage occurred amid continuous rain, yet more than 2.8 million people participated, setting a new attendance record for the shrine, according to municipal authorities.

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