2024-02-11 10:40:00
The meeting of Pope Francis and Javier Milei
(Special envoy to Rome, Italy) Javier Milei and Francisco met at the canonization ceremony of “Mama Antula”, which took place in St. Peter’s Basilica. After a brief contact before the event, the first formal and public greeting occurred once the event was over, when the Supreme Pontiff approached the Argentine president, they exchanged a few words and embraced each other, a gesture that surprised the president, as indicated by those around him to Infobae.
Tomorrow will be the time of the official audience between the two at the Apostolic Palace.
Milei and Francisco clashed during the electoral campaign and these meetings would function as a turning point following the head of state’s apology and the invitation to the audience made by the Holy Father.
The meeting of Pope Francis and Javier Milei
Milei arrived at the Vatican accompanied by Chancellor Diana Mondino, the Minister of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovello, the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, and the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei, dressed according to protocol. Along with the official delegation, a delegation of Argentine businessmen led by Daniel Funes de Rioja, head of the UIA, will join.
Milei and the delegation of Argentine officials with Pope Francis (REUTERS/Remo Casilli)
As soon as he entered the ceremony site, Milei remarked to Infobae that the meeting with Pope Francis represents “an important moment for Argentine history.”
Javier Milei upon his arrival for the meeting with Pope Francis
In addition to the President, the Supreme Pontiff also greeted KarinaMilei, Chancellor Diana Mondino, and Guillermo Francos, whom Jorge Bergoglio had as a student.
Place where Javier Milei and his entourage will sit for the meeting with Francisco
Minutes before the canonization ceremony, Milei held a reserved meeting, outside the official protocol, where he greeted Francis. It occurred before 9 in the morning (5 hours in Argentina). Then, the president took advantage of the waiting time to take selfies and talk with the Argentines who were in the front row of the Holy See.
Javier Milei with the Argentines who were waiting for the canonization ceremony
At the beginning of the Eucharistic ritual, the President was seated in the front row and to the side of Pope Francis. As part of the protocol, Francis stated: “We declare and define blessed María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa as a saint and we inscribe her in the catalog of saints.”
The president will be present at the canonization of Mama Antula and will meet with Pope Francis
Aside from the canonization ceremony of “Mama Antula”, known in her time as María Antonia de San José de Paz y Figueroa, the political key in St. Peter’s Basilica was centered on the first official contact between Milei and Francisco. The head of state and the Pope crossed paths in the electoral campaign and later – each in his own style – opened a path that led to an institutional truce.
President Javier Milei during the ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica (REUTERS/Remo Casilli)President Javier Milei, surrounded by his sister Karina, general secretary of the Presidency, and by Guillermo Francos, Minister of the Interior (REUTERS/Remo Casilli)
Yesterday, in Rome, they told this special envoy that the official audience between Milei and Francis would pass without major incidents, while the President promoted an additional diplomatic gesture for the Pope during his visit to Jerusalem.
Jorge Macri and Gerardo Zamora with their wives María Belén Ludueña and Claudia Ledesma Abdala, provisional president of the Senator, in St. Peter’s Basilica
In this context of converging political signals, Milei and her sister Karina – with a lot of weight in the Government – lit candles in the Holy Sepulchre, where it is believed that Jesus Christ was resurrected on the third day of his death. The president had canceled his visit to the ancient city of Jerusalem, but he asked to go to the Holy Sepulcher before leaving Israel for the Vatican.
The Argentine delegation awaiting the arrival of Pope Francis
Both in Santa Marta and in the official delegation kept in reserve the agenda of State affairs that the President and the Pope will address, but there is an official topic that Milei will propose during the audience in the Pontifical Palace: the formal invitation to Francisco to visit Argentina.
Milei and his entourage wait with anticipation for what the Holy Father will answer. Francisco misses walking the streets of Buenos Aires, and in Argentina there are millions of believers waiting for a mass from the Pope who came to the Vatican from the end of the world.
After the arguments during the electoral campaign, the president agreed to a meeting following an apology
On Monday, at 9 a.m. (four hours earlier in Argentina), Milei and his official delegation will arrive at the Patio San Damaso, where they will be received by an honor guard. From there, the president will be taken to the presence of Francisco, who has all the details of the current political and economic situation in the country.
The time of the audience will be key to understanding if the political truce worked and if a chapter of personal relationship between the Pope and Milei was opened. When he first arrived at the Vatican to meet with Francis – in Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio called him – Mauricio Macri found a cold and distant atmosphere, and the audience lasted only 22 minutes.
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