"BLESSING," NOT A BURDENThe US-born pontiff has dedicated much of his 12-day tour of South America so far to defending the rights of the weak and downtrodden.Earlier Monday, he visited the Pequeno Cottolengo home for people with disabilities in the Buenos Aires suburb of Claypole, where he said a nation's progress should be judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens.His comments touched on a sensitive issue in Argentina, where disability organisations and church leaders have slammed the human costs of President Javier Milei's austerity drive.Resident Marta Torres - who is blind, has cerebral palsy and was abandoned by her mother as a child - told Leo how she had long searched for "a place to live".At Cottolengo, "they helped me stop feeling rejected," she said. "Here, I feel so happy."Leo said disabled people were "not a burden on society" but "a blessing".He also praised communities that uphold the dignity and inclusion of people often pushed to society's margins."Places like this have much to say to our societies, which are often driven solely by the pursuit of economic success or the cult of outward appearance," he said.Founded by an Italian saint, the 50-hectare Cottolengo complex is one of Argentina's best-known Catholic charitable institutions, described by the Vatican as a "city of charity.""INDISPENSABLE"The pope's packed schedule - which Leo refused to reduce following his surgery - saw him also meet with business leaders, workers and trade unions, who are angered by Milei's labour reforms, which limit the right to strike.Leo praised the "indispensable" role played by unions "when they defend those who have no voice and resist the commodification of labour."And he urged them to help precarious workers in particular.Around 45 per cent of workers in Argentina are in informal jobs, lacking pension contributions and formal labour protections.The stop formed part of Leo's first trip to Latin America as pope, a tour taking him to Uruguay, Argentina and then Peru, where he spent nearly two decades before his election.