First Official Meeting at Casa Rosada
This Tuesday, August 18, 2026, Argentina's General Secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei, will lead the first interdisciplinary meeting at 5:00 PM in the Casa Rosada (the Argentine presidential palace) to coordinate the visit of Pope Leo XIV to the country. The meeting will bring together national officials, representatives from the Buenos Aires City government, and members of the Catholic Church, according to official sources cited by Infobae and La Nación.
Representing the Church will be the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Monsignor Jorge García Cuerva, along with priests Matías Taricco and Máximo Jurcinovic, members of the National Commission for the Preparation of the Visit created by the Argentine Episcopal Conference (CEA). This commission is tasked with outlining the general guidelines for the visit, guiding its preparation, and supporting its development, ensuring that the various activities reflect the pastoral purpose of the Pope's presence in the country.
This Tuesday's meeting will focus exclusively on the activities the Pope will carry out in Buenos Aires. According to organizational sources cited by Infobae, authorities from Córdoba will be called upon at a later stage, although there has already been an informal initial contact with Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva.
Key Dates of the Visit
- November 8-11, 2026: Stay in Argentina
- Cities: Buenos Aires, Luján, and Córdoba
- Latin American Tour: Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru
- Private Meeting with President Javier Milei
Security Operation
International analyst Andrei Serbin Pont estimates that some gatherings could attract close to one million people. The operation will combine national and provincial forces with the Vatican's specialized corps.
Participants will include the Federal Police, the Airport Security Police, the National Gendarmerie, the Naval Prefecture, the Córdoba Police, and the SIDE (Argentina's intelligence agency), in addition to ambulances, firefighters, and medical teams.
An Unprecedented Logistical Challenge
Protecting a Pope involves a delicate balance between security and closeness to the faithful. Unlike other heads of state, the pontiff seeks direct contact with crowds, which demands an enormous deployment. Serbin Pont compared the scale to the papal visit to Spain, where 11,000 National Police officers and 2,200 Civil Guard members were deployed.
Additionally, the Vatican's security forces will be involved: the Gendarmerie of the Vatican City State and the Pontifical Swiss Guard, founded in 1506 and composed of 135 members, some of whom accompany the Pope on his apostolic journeys.
Planning includes prior inspection of sites, access control, establishment of perimeters and safe corridors, and prevention of incidents within crowds, such as fainting, falls, or stampedes. Serbin Pont recalled an incident in Peru where unexploded projectiles were found in an area designated to receive a crowd, forcing the deployment of bomb disposal experts.
Context: Differences and Rapprochement
The meeting takes place amid tensions between the Church and the Government over social issues. On August 7, at the San Cayetano shrine, García Cuerva stated that “economic freedom cannot be absolute” and called for being “empathetic with those most in need.” Despite this, joint work has been underway for two months, with the participation of Chancellor Pablo Quirno and Secretary of Worship Pablo Caulo, who traveled to the Vatican in recent weeks.
The visit of Pope Leo XIV, who assumed the papacy in 2025, will be the first papal visit to Argentina since Pope Francis's in 2016. It is expected to mobilize hundreds of thousands of faithful in each city, with significant logistical and economic impact.