Argentinian summit at the Vatican.
New President Javier Milei was received Monday morning by Pope Francis for an hour, twice as long as the average papal audience for a presidential visit.
This was necessary to patch up these two senior officials who are completely opposite, born in Buenos Aires 53 years ago for politics and 87 for religion.
Milei and François don't agree on anything.
Politically, first: at the end of November, the first, an ultraliberal economist, beat the left-wing Peronist Sergio Massa with 56% of the vote, the Pope's political ideal since his youth.
On religion, President Milei is certainly of Catholic faith, but he is today passionate about Judaism, to which he says he is very close without being officially converted.
Read alsoThe shock remedy of Javier Milei, who dreams of himself as an Argentinian Ronald Reagan
Above all, the electoral campaign saw candidate Milei pour out torrents of insults on his compatriot, nevertheless head of the world Catholic Church:
“imbecile”, “nefarious character”, “on the side of the bloody dictatorships”
of Cuba and Venezuela ,
“communist”, “representative of the evil one”.
The Pope was not to be outdone, warning Argentines against the irruption of
“messianic clowns”
in politics.
Milei then apologized.
François, for his part, assured that he was making a distinction
“between what a politician says during the electoral campaign and what he will really do afterwards, because after that comes the moment of concrete action, of decisions”.
This moment has arrived.
And something actually happened this weekend in Rome.
A form of reconciliation, Sunday morning, after the canonization mass of “Mama Antula”, the first Argentine to be declared a saint.
The surreal scene will go down in the annals of the pontificate: near the canopy of Saint Peter, in the basilica of the same name, the Argentine president, with shaggy hair and sideburns, approaches Francis in a wheelchair.
“You cut your hair!”
the old man in white says to him, like a great-uncle would address his great-nephew.
The president, although bravado, seems moved, before retorting to the pope:
“Can I kiss you?”
.
A warm hug followed.
The two faces, visibly touched, spoke for themselves.
Since his election in 2013, Francis has never visited his native country, although he has, for example, traveled to twelve Latin American countries.
The same authenticity was observed Monday morning during the official audience in the Vatican palaces.
According to the official press release, it was not a question of Pope Francis' planned trip to Argentina at the end of 2024, but of the "economic crisis" in Argentina.
However, it is obvious that the theme was on the agenda since Milei invited the pope, by official letter, a month ago.
The fact that this perspective was not mentioned in the Holy See's press release is paradoxically a good sign, even if we will have to wait for possible declarations from the Argentine president.
In Rome, this type of announcement does not use these types of channels and silence often amounts to confirmation.
Furthermore, Francis did not hide, before this meeting, his desire to go to Argentina.
Come back to the country
The major unknown remains the health of the Pope, who has however announced a trip for the month of August to Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor.
A tour not yet officially confirmed by the Vatican.
The trip to Argentina, if it took place, could be accompanied by a visit to Uruguay, or even a third stage.
Several observers believe above all that this return to the country could be the last major international trip for Francis, who will be 88 years old next December and whose health has shown signs of weakness in 2023.
Since his election in 2013, Francis has never visited his native country, although he has, for example, traveled to twelve Latin American countries
.
When asked about this, the pope always replied that the trip to Argentina would come
“later.”
Francis' political and social positions are not unanimous in his country, even if his global aura, acquired over the course of his pontificate, commands the respect of all.
This is what the visit of the Argentine president has just demonstrated, who is however not without political ulterior motives: for Javier Milei, reconciling with the pope is trying to reconcile the country.
But Francis knows that when visiting Buenos Aires, he risks being caught up in a case of pedophile priests which dates from the time when he was archbishop of the city.
In particular the case of a priest, Julio César Grassi, finally sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in 2014 and whom Cardinal Bergoglio had publicly protected with all his authority.