Leo XIV, second Latin American Pope, as he is American and Peruvian, has had his first official meeting with the Argentine president, Javier Milei, received in the Vatican in the morning in private audience. Milei had not attended the Pontificate’s start mass by Robert Prevost, chosen Pope on May 8, and has now included a visit to the Holy See that he has undertaken for Europe and Israel, and that Sunday will take him to Spain.
The meeting has lasted about 45 minutes, a quite long time for the Vatican uses, the exit has already given a news: the Pope has assured that he will travel to Argentina, although he has not required dates, the spokesman of Milei, Manuel Adorni, later revealed on social networks.
“Pope Leo XIV confirmed to the President of the Nation during the meeting they held a few moments ago that he will visit Argentina,” he wrote. Sources from the Milei team then leaked to the Argentine press that the visit will take place at some point in 2026, on a trip that would also include Peru and Uruguay.
Visit to Türkiye
When the first month of the Pontiff’s choice is fulfilled, the Leo XIV travel agenda is already one of the speculation issues. So far it only seems clear that it will go to Türkiye, a displacement already scheduled by Francisco, on the occasion of the 1,300 anniversary of the Council of Nicea. In principle, it is expected for November. But it is not known if it will be your first trip, an appointment inherited from your predecessor, or before you will perform another.
On the encounter with Milei themselves have not transcended many details, as usual. The Holy See has issued a brief statement in which it explains that the Argentine Pope and president have talked about “conflicts in courses, highlighting the importance of an urgent commitment to support peace.” They have also addressed issues of common interest, including socio -economic trends, the fight against poverty and commitment in favor of social cohesion. ” Milei then met with Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, and Monsignor Miroslaw Wachowski, undersecretary for relations with the states. It is a very generic summary, but sufficient to understand, for the matters discussed, that it has been a conversation where their views will have collided.
Prevost, bishop in Peru since 2015 and who had previously spent a decade in the Andean country, knows well the inequalities of Latin America and has always worked for the poorest, immigrants and social justice. However, Milei, Ultraliberal and Populist, received his choice positively. He published a tweet with an image generated by artificial intelligence: a lion dressed as a potato dressed. And the phrase: “The forces of heaven have given their verdict in a clear way. No more words Mr. Judge. End.” It was a wink, because Milei likes to call himself as The lionin reference to a phrase that said when he broke into Argentine politics: “I did not get here to be guiding lambs, I got here to wake up lions.” But it is difficult to believe that the Pope and he are of the same feline species.
In any case, Prevost, with a dialogic and conciliatory profile, moves cautiously on the political level in these first weeks of mandate. It is his second interview with a world ultra -right leader, after the hearing with the United States vice president, JD Vance, last May. They are meetings that follow carefully because one of the greatest points of interest of this pontificate is how it will face Leo XIV, American, the reactionary wave headed by Donald Trump.
Milei, on the other hand, seems to have learned the lesson, because his relationship with Francisco, his compatriot, was stormy. He came to power that he was, nothing less, “the evil representative on earth.” Then they made the peace. After the death of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Milei said he was “the most important Argentine in history.”
He said that the last time they saw, in February 2024, in private audience, the president apologized for insulted, and the Pope replied that he was not important because they were “youth errors.” “It was a very funny conversation. At that time, I arrived from Israel and introduced my rabbi. It was very funny because Axel told Pope Francis: ‘Well, look, I brought back’, and the Pope replied: ‘No, stay with him,'” Milei recalled in an interview to the Argentine newspaper Clarion.
