Pope Leo XIV lauds an Argentine city as a ‘home of saints’

CÓRDOBA, Argentina — Pope Leo XIV said all Christians are called to be saints and hence evangelists, drawing inspiration and guidance from the Church’s canonized holy men and women.

“We are all called to holiness. This is our task here on Earth: to attain perfect union with God. Moreover, this calling is always missionary: We must make known to others the beauty that we have come to know in Christ,” Leo said on Nov. 10.

The pope’s words came in a homily at an open-air Mass on the outskirts of the city of Córdoba in central Argentina. Local authorities said the Mass, celebrated on the grounds of a military aviation school, drew about 650,000 people.

Calling Córdoba a “home of saints,” Leo noted the diversity of its canonized sons and daughters to illustrate that there are many paths to holiness, including priestly or consecrated life, martyrdom, the founding of religious congregations, care of the sick, education, and lay life.

“Just as Córdoba’s mountains are renowned for the beauty and harmony of their varied shapes and colors, so too are the saints and blesseds characterized by the different charisms and missions they received. They offer a polyphonic witness to the universal call to holiness of every baptized person: the call to be conformed to Christ,” the pope said.

Leo specifically mentioned the missionary priest St. José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, and the foundresses Blessed María del Tránsito Cabanillas and Blessed Catalina de María Rodríguez — all Córdobans — as well as St. María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa (Mama Antula), who evangelized widely in Argentina.

These saints were “marked by their Argentinian identity” and committed both to spreading the Gospel and “building a fraternal and compassionate homeland,”  Leo said.

The pope stressed the importance of evangelization through personal witness, stating that “there is no better way to teach than by setting an example with one’s own life.”

“Only those who have experienced friendship with Jesus Christ are capable of undertaking the task of evangelization; only those who know they are loved by the Lord are capable of extending his kingdom of charity and justice, devoting all their energies to proclaiming the Gospel, armed with nothing but the crucifix and the holy rosary,”  Leo said.

He urged his listeners to cultivate their spiritual lives in emulation of the saints: “Open your hearts, and with God’s grace, go forth and be holy: at school and in the town square, in family life and with friends, in the countryside and in the city, on the farm and in the office. Go and evangelize!”