BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Nearly 40 years after the last papal visit to Argentina, many Catholics received the news of Pope Leo XIV’s trip to the South American country in November as a divine sign during economic hardships that have driven millions of Argentines into debt.
The announcement of Leo’s first South American tour comes at a time when the Argentine Catholic Church has been warning of an alarming deterioration in the living conditions of the most marginalized sectors as a consequence of libertarian President Javier Milei’s austerity plan. Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has managed to slow inflation and reduce the fiscal deficit, but at a high social cost.
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An art installation with a message that reads in Spanish: "Here are your people" and that includes a depiction of Pope Leo XIV is on display inside the Church of San Cayetano during the annual pilgrimage honoring Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of work, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A religious souvenir vendor stands amid pilgrims waiting to enter the Church of San Cayetano during the annual pilgrimage honoring Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of work, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Archbishop Jorge Garcia Cuerva celebrates an outdoor Mass outside the Church of San Cayetano during the annual pilgrimage honoring Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of work, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A banner of Pope Leo XIV is posted outside the Church of San Cayetano during the annual pilgrimage honoring Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of work, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Pilgrims attend an outdoor Mass outside the Church of San Cayetano during the annual pilgrimage honoring Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of work, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
The decline in wages and pensions, coupled with an increase in the cost of public transportation, utilities, rent and food, has forced millions of Argentines to go into debt to survive.
“I hope the Pope comes to help the poor like me,” said María Ruíz Díaz, a 70-year-old retiree who, as she does every Aug. 7, went to the Parish of Saint Cajetan in Buenos Aires to pray to the Catholic saint of work.
“The country is going through a difficult time; there are many brothers and sisters in need,” said Santiago Olave, 60, among dozens of devotees waiting to enter the sanctuary. “The Pope can open hearts and minds.”
Milei has defended his plan, saying this week: “I am not going to engage in populism. I am going to die with my boots on, doing what is right and doing what is proper. If you want populism, you have other alternatives.”
Coinciding with the announcement of the pope’s visit, the parish placed a cardboard cutout next to the image of the saint, depicting the pope alongside an elderly woman, a woman with a disability in a wheelchair, a homeless man, and a teacher, beneath the inscription “Saint Cajetan, here are your people.”
They represent some of the sectors most affected by the Milei administration’s budget cuts to health,education and vulnerable populations.
“Saint Cajetan, here are your people, who refuse to accept that work is a commodity and that one must have two or more jobs to make ends meet, or fall into the trap of loans that indebt and suffocate so many families,” said the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Monsignor Jorge García Cuerva, as he led Mass on Friday.
“With Pope Leo XIV, we say that economic freedom cannot be absolute and must always be measured in terms of the common good and the dignity of each person,” the archbishop added.
During his stay, Leo will visit the shrine of Our Lady of Lujan, the patron saint of Argentina, in that suburb west of the capital, and the province of Cordoba, the Vatican confirmed.
Leo will visit Argentina, Uruguay and Peru from Nov. 8-11. The schedule of activities has not yet been announced.
The last leader of the Catholic Church to visit Argentina was John Paul II in April 1987. Francis never returned to his native country after assuming the papacy in 2013.
The visit is especially significant because of Leo’s longstanding ties to Peru. The first U.S.-born pope spent decades there as a missionary and church leader and served as bishop of Chiclayo from 2015-2023. He also holds Peruvian citizenship.
Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
An art installation with a message that reads in Spanish: "Here are your people" and that includes a depiction of Pope Leo XIV is on display inside the Church of San Cayetano during the annual pilgrimage honoring Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of work, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A religious souvenir vendor stands amid pilgrims waiting to enter the Church of San Cayetano during the annual pilgrimage honoring Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of work, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Archbishop Jorge Garcia Cuerva celebrates an outdoor Mass outside the Church of San Cayetano during the annual pilgrimage honoring Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of work, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A banner of Pope Leo XIV is posted outside the Church of San Cayetano during the annual pilgrimage honoring Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of work, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Pilgrims attend an outdoor Mass outside the Church of San Cayetano during the annual pilgrimage honoring Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of work, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Forces of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen have recaptured several key areas around the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait from Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Yemeni officials said Monday, while the Houthis claimed attacks on Saudi oil facilities, airports and military bases as fighting escalated on Yemen’s western coast.
The Yemeni officials said forces allied with the internationally recognized government retook the crucial town of Dhubab just north of the strait, a vital shipping route that connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
They also captured the towns of Bab and Hadeid, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. Witnesses said they saw government tanks and forces entering the towns.
The government push came as part of a major offensive launched early Monday under air cover by a Saudi military coalition.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis military spokesman, claimed in a pre-recorded statement that the rebels used ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in attacks targeting King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and an oil refinery in the Red Sea city of Rabigh.
Also attacked were Abha airport, military facilities in Khamis Mushait and other “critical sites” in the cities of Najran and Jizan, he claimed.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that it was expected that the Saudi-backed government would hit back at the rebels to reclaim territory. Asked if the coalition coordinated the action with the United States, Rubio said that Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have a defense agreement but wouldn’t offer more details.
Since the Yemeni government was ousted from some of its territory by the Houthis and the Saudis have come under attack, “they have a right to defend themselves,” Rubio said.
The U.S. has provided support to Saudi Arabia in its ongoing campaign against the Houthis, according to a regional official and a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to reporters. The support included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for the offensive, said the officials.
The U.S. had supported the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis early in the Yemen war, before quitting the coalition in recent years.
The U.S. Embassy in the Saudi capital of Riyahd warned U.S. citizens on social media to be vigilant about possible drone or missile attacks.
The offensive came just after the rebels said they had captured more territory in the southwestern part of Yemen, taking a key town in a blow to the Saudi-backed forces as they advanced toward a strategic provincial capital in the region.
The Saudi-led coalition spokesman, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said 100 fighter jets were providing support to government forces. He said the coalition secured “air protection” of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and destroyed hundreds of Houthi targets.
Also on Monday, the foreign and defense ministers of Pakistan and Turkey agreed with Saudi Arabia to deploy military forces to the kingdom under their defense pact.
A joint statement released by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry after an emergency meeting in Riyadh did not specify troop numbers, identify which countries would contribute forces or give a deployment timetable.
The three countries condemned what they described as attempted attacks on Mecca and Medina, as well as continuing attacks on Saudi cities and civilian and economic facilities. The statement did not identify who was responsible.
The escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has revived Yemen’s civil war after a four-year ceasefire.
Houthis seized the town of Turbah on Sunday. Turbah sits on a main road linking the provincial capital of Taiz with the port city of Aden, which serves as an interim seat of Yemen's government. Over the years, the town was a major post for government forces defending Taiz.
Earlier, the Houthis seized several villages and areas on Taiz's outskirts, paving the way for the rebels to encircle Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city.
The Houthis made a swift push on the country's western coast on the Red Sea in early September. They captured the strategic city of Mokha and several Red Sea islands, gains that enabled them to control the Yemeni side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which 12% of global trade transits.
The Saudi-backed government said Sunday it was mobilizing troops across government-held areas.
Rashad al-Alimi, head of the ruling Presidential Leadership Council, said in a televised speech that the operations were aiming at “recovering the remaining territories” controlled by the Houthis. He called on the international community to provide support to his government.
Hours after al-Alimi’s declaration, the Saudi military spokesperson al-Malki vowed “full operational support” to Yemeni government forces until the Houthis are “eliminated.”
Al-Alimi said in a post on X on Monday that the operation — dubbed “Yemen Dawn” — had started with the aim of “restoring state institutions, liberating” Sanaa, Yemen’s rebel-controlled capital, and ending “the Houthi terrorist militia coup.”
Al-Nazili said government forces were carrying out a “strategic offensive” on Sanaa. The Houthi media office reported multiple airstrikes on their territories, including Sanaa.
The rebels' taking of Turbah will likely constrain government forces’ ability to reinforce and resupply front-line positions across Taiz province and the provincial capital of Taiz, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis descended from their northern stronghold, capturing Sanaa and forcing the government to flee into exile in Saudi Arabia. The war created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters and killed more than 150,000 people.
The latest bout of violence has killed at least 959 people and wounded over 4,200 others, according to the World Health Organization. The flare-up forced about 174,097 people to flee their homes inside Yemen, according to the U.N. migration agency. More than 3,000 others fled across the waters into Djibouti, the agency reported.
Last week, Yemen’s health ministry — part of the internationally recognized government — warned about the conflict’s impact on health facilities and medical staff across Taiz province. The ministry said in a statement on Friday that health facilities in coastal, western and southern areas of the province have closed or are barely partially functioning.
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
A tea seller pours milk from a can as he prepares tea at a market in Houthi-controlled Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Yemeni civilians celebrate while riding in the back of a pickup truck in the Bani Matar district, Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, as they follow a convoy carrying Houthi prisoners freed in Mokha on its way to Sanaa following the Houthi takeover of the southern Red Sea port city. (AP Photo/STR)
A man walks inside a damaged sponge factory in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
