The new Argentine president
Javier Milei is
in Rome to meet
the Pope,
the President of the Republic
, Sergio Mattarella,
and the Prime Minister
, Giorgia Meloni.
"Philosophically I am an anarcho-capitalist and therefore I feel a profound contempt for the State. I believe that the State is the enemy, I think that
the State is a criminal association
, "said Milei in an interview that will be broadcast this evening on 'Quarta Repubblica', the talk show hosted by Nicola Porro on Retequattro, which provided some previews.
The meeting with Pope Francis
The program of the new Argentine government to combat the economic crisis is also among the topics of the conversation that the new Argentine president
Javier Milei
had today with the
Pope
, and on the subsequent meeting with Cardinal
Pietro Parolin
, Secretary of State, accompanied by Msgr.
Paul Richard Gallagher
, Secretary for Relations with States.
"During the cordial discussions in the Secretariat of State, satisfaction was expressed for the good relations between the Holy See and the Argentine Republic and the desire to further strengthen them - reports the Holy See -. We then focused on the new Government's program to counter the economic crisis".
As the conversation continued, the statement adds, "some issues of an international nature were touched upon, in particular ongoing conflicts and the commitment to peace between nations".
Video Milei in the Vatican for the Pope's audience
The private conversation between the Argentine head of state and Bergoglio in the Library Hall of the Apostolic Palace lasted an hour: an unusually long time for papal audiences, also considering that the dialogue took place without the need for an interpreter.
At the end, after the presentation of the Argentine delegation, the Pontiff offered Milei a bronze medallion inspired by the Baldachin of St. Peter.
Then the volumes of papal documents and the Message for this year's World Day of Peace.
The famous 'alfajores' (typical Argentine sweets filled with 'dulce de leche') and lemon biscuits: these are some of the gifts given by Argentine President Javier Milei to Pope Francis on the occasion of today's private audience.
Among the gifts to Bergoglio - announced on social media by the presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni - also a folder with a copy of the handwritten letter from Chancellor José María Gutiérrez to Juan Bautista Alberdi, which accredits him as representative in Europe (May 1854), and a painting with the commemorative postcard of the first Argentine saint, 'Mama Antula', which the Argentine Post Office distributed on the occasion of her beatification (August 2017).
Before arriving in St. Peter's Square there was also a curious unscheduled event: Milei got out of the car in front of the Argentine embassy to the Holy See and took a collective selfie with a group of his fellow citizens.
Card.Fernandez: 'Milei?
The Pope is worried about the crisis in Argentina'
“Look, the Pope is a person who feels a lot of affection for everyone, in a way that you can't imagine maintaining any animosity towards anyone.”
This was said by the prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Argentine cardinal,
Victor Fernandez
, intercepted by journalists at the exit of the courtyard of San Damaso: Fernandez had the scheduled audience with the Pope right before the one that Francis reserved for the Argentine president, Javier Milei, which lasted more than an hour.
"The president - said Cardinal 'Tucho' who glimpsed Milei when leaving his meeting with the Pontiff - approached the Pope with great affection".
When asked about a possible trip to Argentina by the Pontiff, he replied: "We don't know this because it depends on many things".
Then, pressed again by the question of whether the Pope is worried about the crisis in Argentina, his collaborator at the former Holy Office and compatriot replied: "On this point the Pope is always worried, and evidently it is a topic that is close to his heart. , that people do not suffer, so this issue has nothing to do with any ideological tendency, it is always concerned about those who suffer, it is inevitable."
On the détente with the Argentine president, he commented: "I believe that the Pope's idea of dialogue, of speaking, of comparing various points of view is always good, he also does it here within the Vatican".
On the insults hurled by Milei during the election campaign, who had even defined Bergoglio as the devil on earth, he observed: "Look, he doesn't get annoyed at all by these things, he understands that it's a campaign strategy, that it's part of a marketing strategy" .
Finally, when asked to comment on a recent statement from the Argentine episcopal conference which went so far as to say that "bread is not denied to anyone", he said: "We always keep our hearts on the side of those who suffer the most".
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