Why Pope Leo XIV's South America tour matters

Pope Leo XIV is continuing his historic trip through South America. He's in Argentina this morning after spending the weekend in Uruguay. Yes, he's also expected to visit Peru. He spent many years there, serving as a missionary and a bishop there. We're learning more about this trip and what it means with Father Patrick Gilger, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Loyola University of Chicago. Father Gilger, nice to see you, sir. Thank you for joining us. Happy to be with you both. All right, so can you just run us through why he chose, and this trip has been on the books for some time now, why he chose South America? I think it's always a good question, but popes don't always get to choose just their own preferences here. But one of the things we really get to be excited about is that I'm sure Pope Leo has been very excited for his own personal reasons to visit. So some of the public reasons, Pope Leo has visited a number of countries already, Spain, for example, France, he's already gone to see many places in Italy. Each of these places when a pope goes to visit, they'll do a number of things, visit with civil leaders but also with church leaders, meet with politicians. Say a number of things to emphasize the church's position on Catholic social teaching or on how we can build international relationships better, work for peace, these kinds of different things. He wants to do the same kind of thing visiting these countries in Latin America. Now of course the context is different, the political situation, the economic situation is different in these three countries that he's gonna be visiting, Uruguay he's already been to. To Argentina, he's in today, Peru he'll be going to on Wednesday. But in addition to that, we know that he's very close to especially Peru, but all of Latin America. I'm excited for him personally. I hope he gets to see some of these people that he's really close with when he goes to visit Peru. I hope he gets to see old friends, genuinely. And I keep thinking he just had that procedure not too long ago, and he's just back on the road going to all these countries. So it's nice to see that he's thriving. But Father, talk a little bit about what message you think that he hopes to communicate to not just Catholics, but actually the whole world. Yeah, it's a great question. He's been saying similar, not the same things, but similar things in many of the places that he goes. A couple of themes that we might want to pick up on. One is that he's been emphasizing the importance of recognizing the history of each of the countries that he's coming to. So in places like France, Spain, but also Uruguay, which is a more secular country, and Argentina just yesterday. He's been emphasizing the history of this place, the way that a culture in a particular country has been built up over time. Sometimes by immigrants, sometimes by local indigenous people, all mixing of languages. But he also references. Culture in terms of the arts, he's been highlighting authors Jorge Luis Borges in Argentina and celebrating the particular unique ways that this particular people expresses themselves. He's been celebrating dance in different places. So one of the things we might think about there is that Pope Francis did something very similar when he came to the United States of America. He met with our political leaders, all the senators, all the representatives and the US joint house and there he reminded the United States of America who we are. And he highlighted four major important figures for the American people, people like Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King or Dorothy Day. But in addition to something similar there, Pope Leo is doing that for peoples that he's going to visit now, reminding them who they are, where they come from and therefore where they might go, the kind of cooperation they might have, the visions they They may have their own future. And when it comes to these kinds of trips, you mentioned all the different priorities that are kind of on the menu here, Father Gilger. Is there a measure when all is said and done in the trips in the books of whether this was a successful voyage or not? Of course there are things I'm sure he would like to see happen. I'm sure I would like to see happen. The church would like to see happen. But one of the things is that the pope does not see himself as a political leader. Now he can be a political actor, like he'll wanna say important things in public about the way that we govern ourselves. But he's not trying to take control of these different places that he's visiting. So he speaks in all kinds of different ways, sometimes very sharply. He's been criticizing, for example, euthanasia laws that are being passed in different countries around the globe. And of course, advocating for the rights of the unborn. But at the same time, in a place like Argentina, just yesterday, this is a very young country, 50% of the population are under the age of 35. But the economic inequality is also very high. So he wants to emphasize the importance of education. But also jobs for young people in Argentina. That's also something the Catholic Church cares about immensely, as is welcoming our neighbors with welcoming policies of migration. So all these different things that he'll want to balance. One of the other things that he does try to do is that he speaks not only in words, but also in. Places and in people. So for example, just later on today, he's gonna go visit a very small 400 person residence for those who are mentally and physically handicapped. So he's emphasizing the need to welcome people who might otherwise be on the margins as Pope Francis did in the past. But he's not just saying these words, he's also going there. So I'm sure he hopes that political leaders will pass policies, build laws, systems, programs that will allow places like this to be cared for. But he wants to empower local people to be able to take responsibility for their own countries and the futures that they imagine for themselves. Father, we'll be watching this trip, but we appreciate you joining us with this perspective. I'd love to see him make the way back to Chicago. I think one can hope. Oh, yeah. One can hope. The city would go crazy. That's for sure. Father, thank you. Have a great morning.