Homeowner Seeks $3,500 for Three-Night Rental Ahead of Pope Leo's Visit

Lucía Rodríguez never imagined strangers would pay to sleep in her modest three-bedroom home an hour west of Buenos Aires. 

Then Pope Leo XIV announced he was coming to Lujan, a Catholic pilgrimage site of about 95,000 people with just 1,800 hotel beds, now expecting a crowd more than 10 times its population.

The 20-year-old is asking for 5 million pesos ($3,500), to lease



out her house to visitors during the papal visit. With luck, the three-night stay could bring in enough to paint the house, repair damp walls in the bedrooms and finish an unfinished covered patio out back.

“This opportunity — having the Pope come and people from all over the world — I don’t think it will happen again,” said Rodríguez. “It would help us enormously with a lot of things we need.”