Pope Leo XIV Visits Claypole Home for 400 Disabled Residents
The visit to the Cottolengo Don Orione serves as a direct challenge to President Javier Milei’s austerity policies, which have left care homes unpaid and cut therapy services.
By Eric Collins ·
More than 400 people with disabilities live on the 123-acre grounds of the Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole, south of Buenos Aires. Pope Leo XIV visited the facility on Monday, his first full day in Argentina, to press a message about economic fairness.
The center, founded in 1935 by an Italian priest, is known as a city of charity. It has suffered under the austerity measures of President Javier Milei. Milei’s administration has frozen payments to care homes and cut specialized therapy programs. These cuts affect an estimated 5 million people with disabilities in Argentina.
Residents and staff members wept as the Pope arrived. He embraced people in wheelchairs, chatted with them, and blessed them. In the center’s chapel, he told the group their lives were a blessing, not a burden on society.
“You can help us to remember the foundation of the dignity of every human being and what is truly important in life,” Leo said. He urged Argentines to move away from the pursuit of economic success and outward appearances. Instead, he called for great works of charity like the one at Claypole.
Leo stated that a nation’s progress is measured by how it welcomes people with disabilities and particular needs. This comment came after Argentina’s Congress overrode Milei’s veto last year to increase funding for disability care. The administration has resisted implementing the law, citing concerns about fiscal balance. Care homes like Cottolengo are still owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Senate is set to consider legislation in the coming days that would set aside money for disability benefits in next year’s budget. Milei opposes the measure. Kuyen Rolon Rey, a volunteer at the home, said the choice of location was deeply meaningful. “The people here deserve this grace,” Rolon Rey said. “Choosing such a small place, but big if measured with love, makes us very happy.”
Leo’s visit marks the start of a busy schedule. The American pope is emphasizing Catholic social teaching that places the most vulnerable at the center of economic policy. On Sunday, he told Milei that the economy must serve the person, not the person the economy. He is expected to repeat this message later Monday at the Catholic University of Argentina, where he meets with business leaders, union representatives, and popular movement leaders.
Among those attending are domestic manufacturers hurt by cheap imports and members of the country’s largest labor confederation. Since Milei took office in late 2023, his government has cut disability programs to eliminate fraud and waste. Argentina’s minimum pension is currently about $300, which is roughly a quarter of what an older adult needs for medicine, housing, and food.
Late Sunday, groups of faithful gathered in front of the Vatican’s nunciature in Buenos Aires, where Leo is staying. Chanting his name, they waited for him to step outside. A smiling Leo greeted the crowd and offered his blessing. The Pope continues his three-nation tour of South America, which ends later this week in Peru.
