Pope Leo closed an emotional visit to Argentina with an appeal for unity and reconciliation, offering a message of hope to his predecessor's polarised homeland.
Leo, 71, spent his final morning in the country speaking to prisoners before celebrating mass at the national shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of Lujan, about an hour west of Buenos Aires.
Around two million people turned out for the mass, according to Vatican estimates, with record-setting crowds greeting Leo each day on the first papal visit to Argentina in nearly four decades.
It comes less than a month after the Pope recovered from lung cancer surgery, and he has appeared in good spirits during his intense itinerary.
Leo opened his day at Devoto prison, where Pope Francis, his predecessor, ministered for years as archbishop, celebrating mass, visiting cellblocks that housed inmates with AIDS and washing inmates' feet in the annual Holy Thursday ritual.
Later, wearing vestments in the blue and white of the Argentine flag, Leo prayed to the Virgin of Lujan to help Argentines to "inspire in them the desire to continue along paths of reconciliation, communion and mission".
"Argentina, rise up and walk!" he said in the closing remarks of his 12-day, three-nation tour which finishes on Tuesday in Peru, where he spent two decades working as a missionary priest and bishop.
Crowds for Leo's Argentina visit have been intense, the pontiff drawing two-and-a-half million in a single mass in Buenos Aires on Monday, and more than six million people overall.
As he arrived on Sunday, the Pope insisted that political leaders must put people, not the economy, first, as he addressed, in a subtle and diplomatic fashion, Argentine President Javier Milei's austerity measures and libertarian agenda.
After exposing differences over spending cuts, social justice and artificial intelligence that the government had sought to play down ahead of the visit, Leo offered final words of consolation and peace.
It came as Britain vowed to "robustly defend" its interests as Argentina brings a legal challenge over oil exploration near the Falklands Islands at a tribunal hearing on Tuesday.
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The emotional highlight of the Pope's South American trip is expected later on Wednesday, when he returns to Peru, his adopted homeland.
A massive national party will be thrown for Chicago-born Leo, who holds dual citizenship.
Leo is known to Peruvians as Padre Robert, and is beloved for assisting poor communities, especially in times of crisis.
The Peru visit is expected to feature emotional scenes as the Pope visits old friends, and spends three days in the northern city of Chiclayo, where he was bishop from 2015 to 2023.
It will also test how directly he is willing to discuss the politics of his adopted nation.
(c) Sky News 2026: Pope ends Argentina visit with unity plea after subtly pushing back against Javier
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