The Pope toured the faithful in an open car on his arrival before presiding over the Mass, according to Catholic News World, which publishes the full text of his homily from the Vatican press office. It was his second Mass in Argentina, following the Mass for an estimated 2.5 million people in Buenos Aires on 9 November, according to Rome Reports and the ACI Africa news service.
In his homily, the Pope told the congregation that their calling was always missionary, saying they must make known to others the beauty they have come to know in Christ, according to Catholic News World. He called on the faithful in Cordoba to follow the path of the saints, recalling a dozen Argentinians who have been declared saints or blesseds or whose causes for canonisation are under way, according to Rome Reports. Among them were Father Brochero, the saintly gaucho priest, and Mama Antula, and the altar was dominated by a crucifix with special meaning — the Poor Christ, commissioned by Father Brochero towards the end of his life.
The Cordoba Mass came a day after the Pope met five survivors of sexual abuse by clergy in Buenos Aires, and on the same day he sent a video message to the International Catholic Migration Commission, which is meeting in Rome from 10 to 12 November to mark the 75th anniversary of its founding, according to the Vatican press office. The Argentina leg of the tour has carried particular weight because it is the Pope's first visit to Latin America since his election, and it comes just 24 days after he underwent surgery for lung cancer on 13 October, according to reports of the tour.
On Wednesday 11 November the Pope flies to Lima, where he will meet the new president, Keiko Fujimori, on his first day in the Peruvian capital, according to the tour programme. The Peru leg, from 11 to 16 November, is the longest of the trip and a homecoming of sorts: the Pope is a naturalised Peruvian citizen who led the northern diocese of Chiclayo as bishop from 2015 to 2023. He returns to Rome on Tuesday 17 November.