Pope Leo XIV placed working poverty at the centre of his message to Argentina's political and business leadership, arguing that economic activity must serve people rather than subordinate them. The warning was delivered with President Javier Milei's full cabinet in the front row and prominent entrepreneurs listening.
The pope focused on families living with uncertainty, people seeking employment, older citizens who contributed throughout their lives and workers whose income does not cover household needs. His formulation challenged any measure of success that treats employment alone as sufficient while wages fail to sustain a dignified life.
Marcos Galperín, Eduardo Elsztain and José Luis Manzano were among the business figures present. Their attendance gave the address a dual audience: public officials responsible for social priorities and private leaders whose decisions influence investment, employment, technology and the distribution of economic opportunity.
Leo XIV connected labour conditions with the departure of young people, saying a nation must ask where it has failed when they must leave to realise their ambitions. His response was to strengthen education, vocational training, universities and research while creating space for younger generations to contribute ideas.
The speech also demanded protection for people experiencing illness, dependency or disability. The pope insisted that every life retains a value no circumstance can diminish, placing social support within a principle of human dignity rather than treating it only as a budgetary or administrative question.
On public institutions, Leo XIV warned that corruption erodes trust and said authority reaches its highest meaning when exercised as service. He called for prudence, recognition of the limits of power and care in political language, including treating those who think differently as compatriots with a shared destiny.
The address ultimately joined economics and democracy in one standard of responsibility. Growth, initiative and government authority acquire legitimacy only when they expand dignified work, knowledge, care and coexistence; the next test is whether officials and business leaders translate that ethical framework into decisions rather than applause.
