In the greatest discretion - as is customary in the Vatican - the Holy See began to make the preliminary studies with a view to organizing the Pope's visit to Argentina, which in principle would be in the first months of next year after the summer recess. In addition to the fact that his trip then entered the countdown, the novelty is that in addition to Uruguay – as expected – his itinerary will also include southern Brazil, probably São Paulo and the nearby sanctuary of the Virgin of Aparecida.
Sources of the Roman curia confirmed to Clarín the beginning of the process in the Vatican Secretariat of State – the competent body – which should lead to the official announcement of the visit, the date and detail of the program and that it is discounted that it will be done before the end of the year. The process began after Francis said in March in several interviews he gave to Argentine media on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his pontificate that he wanted to come to Argentina.
A frustrated visit
In those statements, the pontiff said that his visit had been planned for the end of 2017 and that he would repeat the journey made by John Paul II in 1987, that is, including Chile and Uruguay. But he said that the project was frustrated because in December there were elections in the trans-Andean country – the popes do not travel to countries immersed in electoral processes – and that January was a bad month to come because it was a vacation time. "So I visited Chile and Peru," he added.
Pope Francis greets the faithful as he leaves the Government Palace, where he met with the Peruvian president on January 19, 2018, in Lima. Photo: EFE
However, the Vatican Secretariat of State advised Francis against coming to Argentina in recent years because it considered that he had fallen into the crack – he is credited with having sympathized with Kirchnerism – and that everything he did and said (or did not do and say) would be controversial. Then, they concluded, his visit, instead of being a contribution to the unity of his compatriots as he wishes, was going to stoke divisions.
In recent months Jorge Bergoglio began to have strong definitions regarding his country that some observers considered that they were to "detach" from Kirchnerism, but in the Church they believe that it was to make clear his partisan disregard and thus politically decontaminate his trip. Strictly speaking, his relationship with Alberto Fernández is very deteriorated and did not end well with Cristina Kirchner either.
In fact, the pope surprised in January during an interview with an American news agency by expressing concern about widespread poverty and high inflation in his country due, he said, to "bad administrations." Meanwhile, last month – in a message to a meeting on minorities held in Paraná – he denounced the "dramatic magnitude" of poverty among minors.
What was most shocking was his recent revelation that Cristina's government had pressured judges to convict him of crimes against humanity in the ESMA case after a campaign by journalist Horacio Verbitsky in which he accused him of having "delivered" to the last dictatorship two Jesuit priests who worked in a Buenos Aires village and for which he was acquitted.
In turn, in the book "El Pastor", recently appeared, he denies being a Peronist. He points out that this label is due to the fact that when he was superior of the Jesuits in the country, in the early '70s, at the University of El Salvador – founded by his religious order – the Iron Guard organization had a strong presence. In addition, he says that in Rome he receives everyone, regardless of their political affiliation.
A message for May 25
Now, Francis plans this May 25 to connect with the Argentine headquarters of Scholas Occurrentes, in Villa 31 de Retiro, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of that Catholic institution that strives for an inclusive education and with values under its impulse. Will you formulate on that occasion another definition with political voltage that the coincidence with the homeland date makes propitious?
At the same time, the hundred bishops from all over the country began to deploy a strategy to promote the search for consensus between the electoral fronts in the face of the great challenges facing the country and that entails the need for political tension to be lowered after the elections, which would result in a better climate of coexistence for when Francis comes.
In their last plenary assembly, held in April, the prelates decided to add to the public exhortations a proposal to the leaders of a series of "basic guidelines for the construction of consensus" that they commissioned to the Justice and Peace Commission, formed by Catholics specialized in political, economic and social blindness, and that they disseminated last week.
Among other things, there he proposes to agree on basic issues such as the fight against "corruption at all levels" and the strengthening of "the transparency and independence of the judiciary with respect to political power," amid the cases involving former officials and Cristina Kirchner, convicted in the first instance, and the political trial of the Court promoted by the ruling party.
It also includes "working for the dignity of all people, in particular the poorest and weakest, taking care of life from its beginning to its natural end." and "implement policies of sustainable development and economic stability, stimulating the generation of decent work" and "facilitating the necessary investments".
In addition, it points out the need to "strengthen and extend education (...) free of any reduced ideology", of "increasing the care of people suffering from addiction problems" and "intensifying the fight against drug trafficking and human trafficking, expanding protection to women", among other guidelines.
It seems difficult, if not impossible, that the electoral fronts, engaged in electoral competition, can even begin minimal contacts with a view to advancing in a dialogue in pursuit of great agreements, the Church believes by disseminating the guidelines now that the objective must be present in the campaign.
The Third Attempt
It will be the third time that the Church will try to excite the candidates. He did it in the last two presidential elections meeting with the main candidates who expressed their agreement, but when they arrived at the government they rejected it thinking that alone they could move the country forward.
The bishops are betting that the fact that the crisis has deepened to such an extent that without social plans more than half of Argentines are poor and that annual inflation comfortably exceeds one hundred percent, added to insecurity, has generated greater awareness among politicians.
But the big obstacle is a rift created by Kirchnerism and to which Mauricio Macri contributed during his presidency. Crack in which Francis himself fell, which made it difficult for him to come to the country. It remains to be seen if after the elections the political climate improves, progress is made in the consensus and the Pope "blesses" them in his homeland.
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