A home for disabled people on the outskirts of Buenos Aires is full of anticipation as it prepares to receive Pope Leo XIV, amid a growing controversy over state assistance for those with special needs in Argentina.
Cottolengo Don Orione is almost like a small town with its winding streets, central square and 16 homes for 410 adults, many of whom require permanent care.
The Pope will visit the residence on November 9 as part of his South American tour, which also includes stops in Uruguay and Peru.
Fears that the pontiff would cancel his trip following the removal of a cancerous lung tumor in mid-October did nothing to deter the feverish preparations.
"We're continuing to work in the same way," coordinator Luciana Ponce told AFP, adding that "residents are also experiencing it with great anticipation."
"I'm happy about the pope. I hope I can meet him," said 44-year-old resident Esteban as he took part in a ceramics workshop.
"I hope he feels at home," he told AFP, refining the rim of a cup he had just molded.
Some of Cottolengo's 380 employees have been praying for the pope's health.
Leo's visit to Argentina goes by the same motto as an encyclical he published in May: "the poor, the sick, the migrants and the least among us... will become the cornerstone, and a solid, welcoming common home will emerge on the earth."
The trip also coincides with a mounting controversy over disability benefits in Argentina, under debate ahead of the 2027 budget.
Ultraliberal President Javier Milei wants to relax state obligations to provide disability assistance, which patients, organizations and the opposition liken to a covert budget cut.
The Catholic Church intervened in September, publishing a document titled "The Fragility That Makes Us Human" in which it questioned why disability care was being addressed solely from a budgetary perspective.
"In the face of vulnerability, the state's response must not be reduced to a mathematical equation," it said.
The pope's 45-minute visit to Cottolengo will include a ceremony, broadcast live to people outside, during which he will bless those present and listen to testimonies from two residents.
"We're going to remove all the pews so we can fit as many wheelchairs as possible. We want people with disabilities to be the protagonists," director Jorge Silanes told AFP.
Screens outside the grounds will project the ceremony for thousands of Catholic worshippers who are expected to attend.
They will be able to greet the pontiff as the Popemobile travels one kilometer to get to the home.
The cameras won't be joining Leo as he visits a ward housing bedridden people, however.
Founded in 1936, the place is named after Saint Jose Benito Cottolengo, an Italian priest who in 1928 opened a home for the sick and the marginalized in Turin.
Don Orione is another Italian priest, canonized in 2004, who devoted his life to assisting others.
His congregation currently runs homes in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, housing around 1,300 people in total.
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