Pope Leo XIV lead a vast mass in Argentina Monday with two and a half million pilgrims, and urged protection of society's most vulnerable as he met disabled people and clerical abuse victims.
The Buenos Aires mass drew the largest crowd of Leo's papacy to date, as faithful traveled from far and wide to see the 71-year-old less than a month after he underwent lung cancer surgery.
Cheering and waving crowds packed a kilometers-long stretch of Avenida del Libertador, with excitement reaching fever pitch when giant screens relayed images of the pope's journey through the city.
"It was very moving," said mechanic Hector Solis, who traveled cross-country in a three-car convoy for the mass.
"We were at the vigil last night, from midnight, and were surprised by how many people were already there," he told AFP.
Across the capital, vendors sold T-shirts, caps and flags bearing Leo's image, while his likeness appeared on alfajores pastries and jars of dulce de leche as Argentines marked the first papal visit to the country in decades.
"There is a great deal of emotion here," said 60-year-old Carlos Fuentes, who had come 1,500 kilometers.
The trip is being seen by many as a homecoming of sorts, in honor of Leo's Argentine predecessor Francis, who never returned to the country after becoming pope.
Leo became emotional as he paid tribute to Francis, calling him "our beloved" pope.
Many in the crowd were visibly moved too. Teacher Gonzalo Trejo said the pope was prioritizing the Church's social doctrine "which Pope Francis championed."
Leo also privately met five victims of clerical abuse, hearing from each individually about their suffering at the hands of the clergy or within ecclesial institutions in Argentina.
The private audience followed criticism from a network of clergy abuse survivors in Argentina who accuse the Church of failing to deliver on its promises of "zero tolerance" of abusers.
Leo expressed his "commitment to strengthening measures for protection" within the Catholic Church and expressed his closeness to other victims he had not been able to meet, the Vatican said.
The US-born pontiff has dedicated much of his 12-day tour of South America so far to defending the rights of the weak and downtrodden.
Earlier Monday, he visited the Pequeno Cottolengo home for people with disabilities in the Buenos Aires suburb of Claypole, where he said a nation's progress should be judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens.
His comments touched on a sensitive issue in Argentina, where disability organizations and church leaders have slammed the human costs of President Javier Milei's austerity drive.
Resident Marta Torres -- who is blind, has cerebral palsy and was abandoned by her mother as a child -- told Leo how she had long searched for "a place to live."
At Cottolengo "they helped me stop feeling rejected," she said. "Here, I feel so happy."
Leo said disabled people were "not a burden on society" but "a blessing."
He also praised communities that uphold the dignity and inclusion of people often pushed to society's margins.
"Places like this have much to say to our societies, which are often driven solely by the pursuit of economic success or the cult of outward appearance," he said.
Founded by an Italian saint, the 50-hectare (124-acre) Cottolengo complex is one of Argentina's best-known Catholic charitable institutions, described by the Vatican as a "city of charity."
The pope's packed schedule -- which Leo refused to reduce following his surgery -- saw him also meet Monday with business leaders, workers and trade unions, which are angered by Milei's labor reforms, which limit the right to strike.
Leo praised the "indispensable" role played by unions "when they defend those who have no voice and resist the commodification of labor."
And he urged them to help precarious workers in particular.
Around 45 percent of workers in Argentina are in informal jobs, lacking pension contributions and formal labor protections.
The stop formed part of Leo's first trip to Latin America as pope, a tour taking him to Uruguay, Argentina and then Peru, where he spent nearly two decades before his election.