They came from Argentina's far north, from Patagonia in the south, and from everywhere in between — some after driving for hours — to attend the Mass led by the Pope.

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday called on Argentines to take the country's most revered saints as their model of holiness, as roughly 650,000 people filled the central city of Córdoba for Mass.

The turnout came one day after an estimated 2.5 million people saw the Pope in Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital.

Pilgrims travelled for hours to reach the service, setting out from the country's far north, from Patagonia in the south, and from points in between.

Córdoba was picked as the venue because of its central position on the map. No pope had visited the city in almost four decades.

Among the figures held up as examples were St. José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, the "Gaucho priest," and "Mama Antula," who became Argentina's first female saint in 2024. Both were canonised by the Argentine Pope Francis.

"We are all called to holiness," Leo said. "These saints and blessed have already fulfilled their mission on Earth. Today, it is our turn to follow the radiant example of holiness they have left with us."

After the Mass, Leo gave the crowd an unexpected treat: a short appearance on the balcony of the archbishop's residence in downtown Córdoba — the same balcony where St. John Paul II greeted the city in 1987. Thousands packed the street below, chanting "León, León." "United, we can do anything," the pope told them.

Erika Viñales, 39, and Elena Llanquenao, 54, religious education teachers from Santa Cruz province in Patagonia, said they covered 2,000 kilometres (more than 1,200 miles) to get there. "It was quite a journey," Viñales said.

The Córdoba Mass preceded a final Mass set for Wednesday in the town of Luján — the same day the pope, born Robert Francis Prevost, leaves Argentina for Peru.

On X, Leo XIV wrote: "My arrival in Argentina has, for me, a particular meaning: for twelve years, the universal Church listened to the voice of Pope Francis, who carried with him, in his memory and in his heart, the places, the people and the faith he received here."

"To almost touch heaven with your hands is to be very close to it, to feel it in your own flesh," said Romeo Armando, a university student.

Rosa Acevedo, a retired Argentine woman, struggled to hold back tears: "It is a very great feeling, something that fills me. I am going with all my heart full of blessings."

'Putting the person before the algorithm'

A few days earlier in Uruguay, the Pope used a speech at the Catholic University of Uruguay in Montevideo to warn about the "dehumanisation" brought on by AI: "It is urgent, then, that our school and university education contribute to the wise use of technologies and AI, putting the person before the algorithm and harmonising technical, emotional, social, spiritual and ecological intelligences."

In Peru, Monsignor Paolo Rocco Gualtieri blessed the papal plane and its crew at Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima on the eve of the pontiff's arrival.

A huge statue of Pope Leo XIV has gone on display in the port city of Callao, about 15 km from Lima, ahead of his visit. The Pope, who was born in the United States, also holds Peruvian nationality and is returning to the country where he spent many years as a missionary and bishop.

Source: euronews.com