Pope Leo helps Argentines embrace Francis, the pontiff who once divided them

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Vast crowds of young Argentines, a generation that Catholic leaders had feared was abandoning the pews, packed the parks of Buenos Aires and cheered as if at a concert when Pope Leo XIV promised a church open to “todos, todos, todos” — everyone, everyone, everyone. Those words, like all of Leo’s surest applause lines during the visit, belonged to his Argentine predecessor, Pope Francis. So did much of the week’s adulation. Francis’ fierce defense of the downtrodden made him a moral voice abroad but long embroiled him in political fights at home — controversy that many believe deterred him from returning as pope. More than a year after his death, the more measured Leo made the homecoming Francis never could, carrying on his legacy and helping Argentines embrace their once-polarizing pope as a unifying national figure.

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