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🇦🇷 Argentina /Elections & Politics

Following Leo XIV’s position, Church sends leaders a forceful message against political division

From Clarín · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Argentina’s Catholic Church called on political and social leaders to reject polarization and pursue dialogue grounded in attentive, respectful listening.
  • About 1,500 people attended the Social Week in Córdoba, including politicians, business leaders, trade unionists, bishops and priests.
  • The final declaration emphasized social justice and access to food, housing, dignified work, education, health care, transport, information, religious freedom, environmental protection, peace and the rule of law.

Argentina’s Catholic Church closed its traditional Social Week in Córdoba with a direct appeal to the country’s leaders: reject division and embrace dialogue. The gathering’s final message echoed the position attributed to Pope Leo XIV ahead of his visit, calling for listening that is “attentive, calm and respectful,” with a genuine effort to understand others without disparaging or underestimating them.

attentive, calm and respectful, capable of genuinely empathizing with the other without disparaging or underestimating them

· Argentina’s Catholic ChurchThe Church’s call for dialogue in the final declaration of Social Week.

At the opening on Friday, Córdoba Archbishop Ángel Rossi, first vice president of the Argentine bishops’ conference, warned against “messianisms laden with disparagement and insults, aggression or rancor.” In line with the event’s theme, “Bridges Toward the Common Good,” he said that building bridges meant joining opposites and reconciling cultures, social classes and ideologies that had traditionally been in conflict.

Around 1,500 people attended, a record for the event. The participants included politicians, business leaders, trade unionists, about a dozen bishops, dozens of priests and lay people working in social affairs who came from across the country. Córdoba Governor Martín Llaryora and city Mayor Daniel Passerini welcomed attendees. Speakers included Ricardo Diab, president of the Confederation of Medium-Sized Enterprises; Víctor Valles, president of the Christian Association of Business Leaders; and Jorge Sola, one of the CGT’s general secretaries.

messianisms laden with disparagement and insults, aggression or rancor

· Ángel RossiThe Archbishop of Córdoba’s warning at the opening of the gathering.

Other speakers included Argentine bishops’ conference President Marcelo Colombo, the archbishop of Mendoza, while the closing address came from La Rioja Bishop Dante Braida, head of the Church’s Social Pastoral Commission. Osvaldo Cornide, honorary president of the business association CAME, stressed the importance of advancing “national unity as the framework for facing challenges.”

national unity as the framework for facing challenges

· Osvaldo CornideCornide’s call for unity in remarks during the event.

The final declaration described social justice as “the structuring criterion and indispensable tool” for creating a fuller future, narrowing gaps and ensuring fairness from the starting point onward. It said the common good required a society in which every stone, especially those that appeared discarded or wounded, was valued and included in rebuilding coexistence. The declaration listed food, housing, dignified work, education, culture, health, transport, the free circulation of information, religious freedom, environmental protection, peace and the legal order as concrete demands of human dignity that society must protect together.

the structuring criterion and indispensable tool

· Participants in Social WeekThe final declaration’s description of social justice.
About this summary

Originally published by Clarín in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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