Man arrested in Argentina over death threats against Pope Leo XIV

Argentina's State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE) said Saturday that it had arrested a man who had made death threats against Pope Leo XIV, hours before the pope was due to set foot in the country for the first time. The federal trial court in Campana, north of Buenos Aires, ordered the arrest after the SIDE's Operations Subsecretariat gathered information and passed it to the Counterterrorism Investigation Unit (DUIA) of the Argentine Federal Police.

The arrest came "in less than 24 hours from the moment information about the threat was obtained". The SIDE did not give the name of the man arrested, the content of the threats, how they were made, where the arrest took place or whether formal charges have been filed. Its statement said: "A person was arrested who had made death threats against His Holiness Pope Leo XIV in connection with his visit to the country".

The case is before federal judge Adrián González Charvay, who heads the Campana court. The agency credited the speed of the operation to "effective coordination between the Intelligence areas, the Federal Forces and the Judiciary". It also restated its "commitment to anticipating risks and detecting threats", and said it is working "in coordination with the Federal Forces to guarantee that the pope's visit takes place normally and in a secure environment".

Leo XIV is due to land at Jorge Newbery Airport in Buenos Aires on Sunday, November 8, at 4:30 p.m., arriving from Montevideo. He will stay in Argentina until November 11, when he leaves from Ezeiza International Airport for Lima. The trip also takes in Uruguay and Peru.

The pope's schedule includes a tribute at Plaza San Martín, a meeting with President Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace, and an event with national officials at the Palacio Libertad. Leo XIV will celebrate Mass in Buenos Aires, Luján and Córdoba. He will also visit the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione care home in Claypole, meet labor groups and leaders of several religious faiths, and take part in a youth vigil at the Monumento de los Españoles in Buenos Aires.

It is the first papal trip to Argentina in 39 years. Milei designated it an event of public importance through decree 1103/2026, which declared holidays covering different parts of the country during the trip. Before starting the South American tour, Leo XIV wrote on social media: "It fills me with joy to return to the continent where I have lived so many moments of my life", a reference to the years he spent in pastoral work in Peru.