From peronists to libertarian Javier Milei, Pope Francis had tense relations with presidents of Argentina. The target of politicization, he was eventually distanced from his home country and died without ever returning to Buenos Aires.
The dispute involving the Catholic leader won new contours when Javier Milei insulted him as a “imbecile” and “representative of the evil on earth” during the last presidential elections. The libertarian, however, was not the only Argentine leader to criticize the Pope, who had delicate relations with politics.
Although he received all the presidents at the Vatican, Francis died without visiting Argentina as Pope for fearing his return to be used politically – on the one hand or the other.
The pope’s thorny relationship with Argentine politics comes from long before Javier Milei. The couple Néstor and Cristina Kirchner considered Francis the “spiritual opposition leader”. The peronists even accused him of collaborating with the Argentine military dictatorship delivering priests to the regime-a complaint that was never proven.
After Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis in 2013, then -President Cristina Kirchner was advised by allies to review her position and apologized. “I thought you were something else,” Cristina would have said in meeting the pontiff.
She was greeted by the Pope four times and went after Francis during her visits to Brazil, Paraguay and Cuba. But the political use of the approach by Cristina Kirchner displeased the pontiff, according to the Clarion. After that, the relationship would wear again.
Continues after advertising
With Mauricio Macri, the wear and tear began when he was still mayor of Buenos Aires. The Catholic leader had supported the candidacy of Bishop Joaquin Piña who managed to block, in the constituent of the province of Misiones, the indefinite reelection of Peronist governor Carlos Rovira. And he waited, in return, that Macri appealed against the decision that paved the way for same -sex marriage in Argentina, which did not happen.
During the presidency of Mauricio Macri, Argentina took another step in progressive reforms: the beginning of the discussions in Congress on the legalization of abortion. Despite the wear and tear with Pope Francis, who faced the pressure of the most conservative sectors of the Catholic Church, they maintained relations at the institutional level.
In the case of Alberto Fernández, the relationship was affected by the legalization of abortion, concluded during its period at Casa Rosada. According to the Clarionthe pontiff would also have bothered Fernández’s strategy, which, like his vice president Cristina Kirchner, tried to politically explore the Pope’s relationships.
Continues after advertising
Milei, in turn, attacked the Catholic leader before reaching the presidency. After being elected, he attended the Mass of Canonization of Breast Antula, the first saint of Argentina, and was received by Pope Francis.
The relationship was appeased, but they kept profound disagreements about the role of the state. Libertarian Javier Milei promotes a hard fiscal adjustment, which mainly affects the poorest in Argentina, while Pope Francis dedicated himself to defending the vulnerable.
“The state, today more important than ever, is called to play this central role of redistribution and social justice,” said the Pope, a month after receiving Milei at the Vatican.
Continues after advertising
Francisco also criticized the government’s repression of protests in Argentina. “They showed me the images of the repression, where the police repressed workers who demanded their rights on the streets as if they were disorders. Instead of spending social justice, they spend on the purchase of pepper gas,” he said after a meeting with representatives of social movements.
Although in Argentina the state and the church are separated, the bonds have always been very narrow. Until the 1994 constitutional reform, being Catholic was a requirement to assume the presidency. In this context, the Pope found himself in the midst of polarization and discussions around Peronism.
“I was never affiliated, militant or sympathizing of Peronism. To say this is a lie. My writings about social justice led to say that I am a peronist. But in the event of a peronist conception of politics, what would be wrong with that?” He questioned the Pope about the accusations of the critics of bonds with Peronism.
Continues after advertising
“In Argentina, the Pope was seen with a left profile, and the most liberal right did not like him,” explained biographer Sergio Rubín, co -author of The Jesuit (2013) and the pastor (2023).
The dispute ended up pushing the Pope, who never returned to Buenos Aires. Pope Francis even said that he would like to visit Argentina, but did not want his passage through the country to be “used neither to one side nor the other”, expressing the concern with the politicization of his image.
Reactions to the Pope’s death
Now, while the world goodbye to Pope Francis, Argentina’s political leaders leave the quarrels with the Catholic leader behind.
Continues after advertising
“Despite the differences that seem small today, it was a real honor for me to have knew him in his goodness and wisdom,” wrote Javier Milei as he mourned death. The president decreed seven -day official mourning and goes to Rome for the Pope’s farewell.
In turn, Cristina Kirchner said he was the “face of a more human church, with his feet on earth and a fixed gaze in heaven,” remembering the first date he had with Pope Francis.
The humanitarian character of the Pontiff was also highlighted by Alberto Fernández. “The Church should support the dispossessed, the marginalized, and the persecuted. The Church should embrace those who have been condemned to be minorities or persecuted in their lands. The church should raise their voice against those who accumulate wealth and distribute poverty. However, the Church only managed to do it when Francis, the Jesuit, was the Pope,” he wrote on social networks.
Remembering his last meeting with Pope Francis, accompanied by his wife and daughters, Mauricio Macri said: “I have the image of that day and also from Francis as a religious man of unparalleled stature, a severe politician and, especially, a good shepherd. His life was marked by the teachings he conveyed with his words, his commitment and his gestures.
