In a homily charged with tension, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge García Cuerva, targeted the policies of Javier Milei’s government and called for not being «indifferent» in the face of the social crisis. It was during the commemorative mass for the 50th anniversary of the murder of three priests and two Pallottine seminarians at the San Patricio Church in Belgrano, an event attributed to the Federal Police during the last military dictatorship.
«We do not want to be indifferent, we do not want cruelty and individualism to overcome us,» García Cuerva fired, in a message that targeted the climate of confrontation dominating the public scene. The archbishop lamented «the pain of the sick, the loneliness of our elderly, the suffering of those who are exposed on the streets of the city» and called for strengthening commitment to those who suffer «the burden of lack of work and the affliction of poverty.»
References to the current political scenario were constant. García Cuerva avoided direct mentions of the Government, but his words were associated with austerity and discursive violence. The social context is desperate: a report from Torcuato Di Tella University revealed that poverty rose to 30% in the semester October 2025-March 2026, two points above the previous period. Labor informality reached 44.2%, the historical maximum of the series, affecting 8.5 million workers. In the last year, while total employment grew only 1.1%, informal workers increased by 6.4% and formal employment fell by 2.6%.
The so-called San Patricio Massacre is considered one of the most representative episodes of state terrorism during the last dictatorship. The five members of the Pallottine community were gunned down inside the parish house in the early hours of July 4, 1976. García Cuerva recalled a phrase from then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio: «Together they lived and together they died.» He also noted that «their crime was to preach the Gospel out of season, to defend life and human dignity» and stated that «the red carpet stained with blood reminds us of the cost of that fidelity.»
The archbishop emphasized that the death of the religious «was not the death of isolated individuals; it was the testimony of a community, of a fraternity that inconvenienced the power of the day because it lived the Gospel without anesthesia.» In 2005, Bergoglio promoted the cause of beatification of the five Pallottines, whose testimony is still remembered for their pastoral commitment and defense of human rights during the years of lead.
The Church once again places itself in a critical position regarding the social and political climate. While the Government insists on austerity, poverty and informality hit millions of Argentines. García Cuerva did not remain silent: he asked not to be indifferent, in a country where cruelty and individualism seem to have become the norm.
Para mí este cura kirchoide habla de pobreza récord pero la única pobreza que veo es la de ideas. Mientras estos zurdos gobiernan la informalidad explota y ellos preocupados por la indiferencia. Yo creo que la indiferencia es no agarrar la pala y laburar como hacen los vagos que votan a estos. ¡Vamos carajo que Argentina no se arregla con misas!
khe barbaridad este obispo recien se da cuenta de la pobreza? para mi es un hipocrita mientras los curas se llenan de guita el pueblo se caga de hambre basura de iglesia complice del sistema viva la lucha de clases muerte al capitalismo