Pope Francis and the Argentine president, Javier Milei, held their first contact yesterday at the Vatican. It was the first time that the two Argentines saw each other face to face after the surprising triumph of the far-right president, who before arriving at the Casa Rosada had dedicated all kinds of insults to the Pontiff.
Milei had called his compatriot an “imbecile”, “representative of evil on Earth” or “a left-handed son of a bitch who goes around preaching communism”. Even in September, in an interview with controversial former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, she said the Pope violated the Ten Commandments for defending social justice and “is on the side of bloody dictatorships.” But, after winning the elections in November, Milei already changed his tone and put aside the disqualifications when he received a call from the Jesuit pope. Then he no longer called him “son of a bitch”, but “His Holiness” of him. “His Holiness told me: 'Courage and wisdom.' I told her that I handle the first one and the second... I'm working,” she explained then.
Francisco and Milei greeted each other briefly at the end of the canonization mass of the first Argentine saint, María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, popularly known as “Mama Antula,” in St. Peter's Basilica. Milei led the Argentine delegation and took the opportunity to break the ice with the Pope.
“You cut your hair!” commented Jorge Mario Bergoglio. “I made it long,” responded the Argentine president, laughing and taking his hands. Then he bent down to hug the Pope, who has been using a wheelchair for some time to get around due to his knee problems. Francisco thanked him for coming, greeted the rest of the companions – including his sister and his general secretary, Karina Milei – and, as he does in all meetings, asked them to pray for him.
The two Argentines will meet again this morning at the Apostolic Palace, where they will hold their first official audience, in which they will have time to speak calmly. The Argentine will surely renew the invitation to visit his land, a trip that Francisco intends to make in the second half of the year if his health allows it. It would be the first time that the Pope returned to his country since he was elected in more than ten years.
Milei, who is in Rome after his visit to Israel, will later meet with the president of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and also with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who during a television intervention highlighted his “fascinating personality.” . The leader of the Brothers of Italy also boasted of having been the first European leader with whom Milei had spoken after winning the elections, a telephone conversation that took place on November 20 to congratulate him on her electoral victory.
“Argentina is a nation to which we are united by deep historical and cultural ties and where the largest community of Italians abroad resides. “Rome and Buenos Aires share common values that define our foreign political action in the current international context,” the head of the Italian Government said then.
