Mission and Aid · November 11, 2026
Pope visits Argentine facility for people with disabilities founded by Saint Aloysius Orione
Pope Leo XIV visited the Little Cottolengo in Claypole, Argentina, on Monday, November 9, marking his first visit to a facility run by the Orionists since his election to the papacy. The center, established by Saint Aloysius Orione in 1935, houses more than 400 people with various disabilities across approximately 50 hectares.
The facility operates 14 residential homes, a sports field, two schools for general education, and a specialized school for people with disabilities. It also maintains an educational and therapeutic center, a laundry, a specialized medical care unit, and a kitchen that prepares over 70 different meal plans tailored to individual residents' needs. Brother Jorge David Silanes, who has directed the Little Cottolengo for many years, oversees a staff of 370 workers and coordinates approximately 90 volunteers of varying ages.
Cottolengo was founded as the "humblest work of faith and mercy," designed to provide shelter, bread, and comfort to the abandoned and those without care. According to its founding principles, it remains "a door always open to all kinds of moral and material poverty" and accepts people regardless of nationality, religion, or lack thereof. Brother Silanes expressed particular concern about patients requiring specialized care in nutrition and hydration, though he believes the papal visit will bring attention to these needs.
During the visit, Pope Leo XIV paid homage to the relics of Father Orione, including his heart, preserved in the sanctuary chapel. The heart was brought to Argentina in 2000 by young people returning from World Youth Days in Rome. The pope then visited a residence housing people with severe disabilities located near the sanctuary.
Testimonies from two adults with disabilities whose lives were marked by abandonment and illness before finding renewal through faith at the facility were planned as part of the visit. Sonia Fernandez, who has worked at Cottolengo for 20 years as coordinator of the Hogar Ferrando Misto residence, expressed hope that the papal visit would increase public interest in the residents and their circumstances. She described how many residents had previously been parents, mothers, and workers before accidents, illness, or disease required them to depend on constant care from others.
Brother Silanes emphasized the facility's commitment to the motto "love and serve," noting that the visit would demonstrate to the world that human dignity persists even in situations of fragility and disability. Father Orione's words continue to resonate within the facility's walls, describing life there as a place lived joyfully, where residents pray, work according to their abilities, love God, serve the poor, and recognize Christ in the abandoned.