Pope Francis received President Javier Milei in audience this Monday morning, a day after exchanging
cordial gestures
with which both wanted to leave past disagreements behind.
Milei was received at 9 a.m. local time, 5 a.m. in Argentina, at the Apostolic Palace with state honors.
The president arrived
accompanied by his sister Karina, general secretary of the Presidency, wearing a black dress and veil as required by protocol
.
His delegation included the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, who was a student of Jorge Bergoglio in Argentina, Foreign Minister Diana Mondino and Rabbi Axel Wahnish, spiritual advisor to the president and designated ambassador to the State of Israel.
The Government spokesman, Manuel Adorni, announced shortly before on
the
".
Milei upon arriving to meet the Pope.
He also planned to give her a painting with a commemorative postcard of Mama Antula, a defender of the Jesuit legacy who on Sunday was canonized by Francis in St. Peter's Basilica, in the presence of Milei, and became the first Argentine saint.
In the basilica, the two leaders offered affectionate gestures to each other this Sunday, on the occasion of the canonization mass and in their first face-to-face meeting, in the Vatican.
This is how they sealed their new harmony before the cameras, after the insults that Milei directed at the Pope in the past.
In the past, Milei had accused the Pope of "seeking to spread communism" and more recently of "political interference" during his election campaign.
However, in recent months he changed his tone and in January he issued an official invitation to Francis to visit Argentina, which he has not visited since he was elected Pope in 2013.