Córdoba dressed itself in festivity to welcome Pope Leo XIV. It did so the way we do at home when we await someone special.
The yellow and white flags of the Vatican mingled with Córdoba’s colors, revealing the identity of a province that made the celebration its own and that sheltered visitors from all regions. The streets altered their usual appearance, and the city began to live under a different mood. There was something in the air that could be sensed even before his arrival, something that would stay in everyone’s memory.
The event began on Monday afternoon, long before Leo XIV’s arrival, with a youth vigil that brought together thousands of people. Music, prayer, and listening spaces were the protagonists of a night that carried much of our Cordoban identity.
The folk traditions and the cuarteto, so rooted in our culture, accompanied the pilgrims who spent the night at the FAdeA site, awaiting the Mass that the Pope would celebrate on Tuesday morning. From Jorge Rojas to Q’Lokura took the central stage in a celebration where faith also found its modern way of expression.
There were young people, entire families, devout followers, and also the curious. People from different generations, beliefs, and realities who found a common reason to come together.
And I think that was the moment when something much deeper than the religious dimension of the papal visit began to reveal itself. For a few hours, everyone shared the same emotion.
The arrival of Leo XIV transcended the religious. It was an invitation to reclaim the ability to recognize the other, to listen to one another, and to feel that, even though we are different, we can walk together.
While watching the crowd, I wondered what drew everyone there. I think the answer goes beyond the religious aspect or the historical significance of the event and is tied to the enormous need to believe, to find peace, and to feel that there is something greater than our daily worries.
A phrase that reached the heart of Córdoba
“When we are united, we can achieve everything,” the Pope said from the balcony of the Archdiocese, at the second stop of his Cordoban itinerary, before a crowd that listened with emotion.
It was a simple line, one of those that do not require grand explanations because they go straight to the heart.
There was something moving about that moment. The silence that followed his words, the looks on the people’s faces, and the expressions heavy with emotion seemed to convey a shared need.
I am used, as a journalist who writes about politics, to observing a reality in which differences often seem to dominate everything else. To hear speeches that divide, debates that pit people against one another, and positions that appear irreconcilable.
Perhaps that is why what happened in Córdoba moved me so deeply. Seeing thousands of people gathered, moved, embracing a single hope, from this province and from so many places that welcomed them, made me think about how much we need to reclaim what unites us.
For a few hours, differences moved to the background. And I felt that the Pope’s message could not have reached at a more necessary moment.
A Pope who is close, warm, and deeply human
A Pope arrived in Córdoba who showed his closeness from the very first moment. From the moment he stepped off the plane, he set aside the formalities of protocol to approach the people. He greeted the governor Martín Llaryora and Cardinal Ángel Rossi with kindness, but he also sought to meet the children who awaited him.
He reached out his hands, listened to them, received their letters, and even participated in video calls to greet relatives on the other side of a screen.
They were small gestures, but enormous in their meaning. Because there is something incredibly moving about seeing a figure of such magnitude stop in front of a child, listen to their words, and give them a few seconds of attention that they will probably remember for life.
And that was, for me, one of the most moving aspects of his visit. The closeness of a man who, while representing millions of followers around the world, found time to look people in the eyes, beyond their beliefs and origins. He did so with everyone, equally.
The streets filled with people who waited to see him pass, even if only for a few seconds.
It moved me to think that, in times when so many things confront us, a single person could bring us together around a shared feeling.
Solidarity was also a protagonist of this visit. There were people who collaborated to ensure that economic difficulties would not prevent anyone from reaching Córdoba. Families who made efforts to travel, pilgrims who walked long distances, and volunteers who offered their time to accompany others.
The state was also present, providing resources and services. There was free transportation, schools open to house pilgrims, and meals for those who spent these days in the city. This was not a minor detail.
Behind that organization lay something worth noting: the will to ensure that no one be left out of a celebration that sought to be open and inclusive.
As a Cordoban, I felt a special pride seeing my province open its arms and decide not to leave anyone out. The Pope’s message is lived, and we hope it multiplies.
Leo XIV spoke to us about fraternity, peace, and unity. But above all, he reminded us that the encounter with others remains one of the most powerful paths to building a better society.
“When we are united we can achieve everything.”
For me, that may be the phrase that stays with us the longest, and repeating it in this note is to remember it and leave it etched.
I do not know how long the images of these days, and of a Córdoba so beautiful and so federal, will remain in our memory. But I hope we do not forget what we were able to feel together. Because perhaps that is what we need to recover most: the ability to look at one another with kindness, to recognize ourselves in the other, and to understand that no one can build a better place in solitude.
And while the city slowly regains its usual pace, the streets open up and everything returns “to normal,” I am left with a feeling that is difficult to explain, yet deeply hopeful.
Perhaps Leo XIV’s greatest gift was not only his presence but the reminder that behind our differences we still need the same thing: to find peace, to grow in community, and to work for the common good.
Source: Ana Carolina Biedermann holds a degree in Social Communication and Journalism.
