Trees are being planted in the garden. The brightly coloured buildings are getting another coat of paint. The choir rehearses. Hundreds of other residents, several of them using wheelchairs, practise their positions outside the sanctuary. Excitement is in the air, because on Monday 9 November, the Cottolengo Don Orione – a Catholic-run home for disabled people – will be the first stop on Pope Leo XIV’s first full day of his trip to Argentina.

But the pope’s visit to Claypole, about 26km from Buenos Aires, does not come at an especially happy time for the home, which counts about 400 residents with disabilities. Argentina’s president, Javier Milei , has made wide-ranging cuts to disability funding.

“[The government] cut off the supply of medications, special foods and diapers. They haven’t delivered any since last November. The matter is in court,” said the facility’s coordinator, Fernando Montero.…