By Joshua McElwee and Leila Miller BUENOS AIRES, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Vast crowds thronged one of the main boulevards in Buenos Aires on Monday as Pope Leo hailed the strength of the Catholic Church in South America at an outdoor Mass that drew a record 2.

Pope Leo XIV is doubling down on his call for Argentina to look out for the weakest. He has visited a home for people with disabilities in a symbolically powerful rebuke of President Javier Milei’s austerity measures.

CNN Vatican Correspondent Christopher Lamb is in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, where roughly 2.5 million people, according to official estimates, gathered for Mass on Monday morning. It’s the largest event Pope Leo has held in his papacy thus far that surpasses the numbers that turned out in the same spot for Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Pope Leo made the comments as he arrived in Argentina on the second leg of his Latin America tour.

A Missionary Pope Faces a Chain Saw-Wielding Populist in Argentina

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Buenos Aires on Monday to celebrate Mass in front of thousands of Catholic faithful. The visit kicked off a busy day for Leo in which the American pope, fulfilling the unfinished legacy of Argentine Pope Francis,

Pope Leo XIV urged Argentine President Javier Milei and the country's political leadership to "safeguard democracy" and make "careful use of words."

By Cassandra Garrison LIMA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Before Pope Leo reaches Peru later this week, a larger-than-life version is already waiting for him on the Pacific shore. A towering white statue of the pontiff,