Pope Francis maintained close relations with all of Argentina’s presidents, even though he never returned home after his election as pontiff. His ties with politics, however, date back much earlier, to his previous incarnation as Jorge Bergoglio. From Néstor Kirchner to Javier Milei, the head of the Catholic Church was a protagonist of episodes of rapprochement and pardon, often becoming friendlier with leaders he had been at odds with as the years passed. Going on pure numbers (of meetings), it would seem that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was Francis’ favourite, though there were rocky moments, such as when the former president’s government pushed for the passage of the Same-Sex Marriage Law, eventually passed in 2010. Francis was also close to Mauricio Macri before their elevations to Pope and President respectively, indicating perhaps that his personal inclination was not always ideological. Crucially, the Flores-born religious leader recognised himself as being political. In the 2016 book Nei tuoi occhi é la mia parola, written by the Jesuit and Italian journalist Antonio Spadaro and based on conversations with the Pope, Francis affirmed: "Sermons are always political" because they are "made in the 'polis', i.e. in the midst of the people." His opinion was stated clearly: “Christians cannot be said to be apolitical. Christians should not be apolitical." Néstor and Cristina Looking at his time before Rome, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio – as head of Argentine Synod – had a tempestuous relationship with both former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, with a series of confrontations. During Néstor Kirchner’s single 2003-2007 term, the then-president clashed regularly with the Church, considering Bergoglio to be all but part of the opposition.. The clashes began after Kirchner won the 2003 elections, when Bergoglio criticised the "exhibitionism and strident announcements" of the incoming head of state, who refused to attend several religious ceremonies and assured that there was no relationship between the Church and the Argentine government. The subsequent spats led Kirchner to criticise the Church openly, saying: "Our God belongs to everybody but beware that the devil is everywhere, with those wearing trousers and those wearing [clerical] robes." Relations initially improved with the arrival of Fernández de Kirchner to power, though local media outlets continued to speak of a “conflictive” relationship between the religious leader. Three years into her first term, Bergoglio criticised the then-president for fuelling "social tension," further affirming that "this country has not been looking after its people for years." Amid a fierce row with the agricultural sector, triggered by Fernández de Kirchner’s decision to hike export duties, the Catholic leader took the side of farmers, meeting with their leaders and also asking the president for "a gesture of grandeur" to unblock the conflict. As the Kirchnerite government pushed for the approval of its pioneering Same Sex Marriage bill, the relationship worsened still. Bergoglio sent a letter to all domestic churches asking that all religious ceremonies mention "the inalterable nature of marriage and the family." The then-president responded that it wasn’t a “religious issue” and that she was “worried by the tone which the discourse has acquired, presenting it as a question of religious morality and against the natural order, when in fact what they are doing is looking at a current reality." The reform passed, but Fernández de Kirchner subsequently blocked a congressional proposal to legalise abortion – a move that was interpreted within the Church as a goodwill gesture towards the Catholic faithful. In 2010, Néstor – Cristina’s husband – suddenly died. Amid national mourning, Bergoglio “improvised” a Mass. “The people had elected him and now had to pray for him,” he recalled some years later, adding that no-one from the government attended. In 2013, after his surprise election and consecration as Pope Francis, relations began to improve. Fernández de Kirchner would visit the pontiff a total of seven times, not only at the Vatican but also in Brazil, Paraguay and Cuba. Onlookers observe that the Kirchnerite presidents weren’t the only figures from the movement to improve links with the pontiff. The late Hebe de Bonafini, the historic head of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo human rights group – who once described Bergoglio as “rubbish” and attempted to storm the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires – revised her take on Francis and ended up visiting him in Rome to ask for forgiveness. “You have to say sorry when you’re wrong. I told him that we were both mistaken, just as we had also been mistaken about Néstor Kirchner,” said Bonafini in 2016. Macri: It’s complicated The Catholic leader’s relationship with former president Mauricoi Macri was complex. In December 2015, after Macri’s election, no congratulations arrived from the Holy See – a surprising turn of events, given their relationship had been seen as cordial up until then. Some even recalled that for Bergoglio’s own consecration in 2013, when the recently enthroned Pope made an exception to protocol — which did not include mayors — to include the PRO leader (then mayor of Buenos Aires City) and his wife Julia Awaka on the guestlist. The first meeting between the Pope and Macri as president lasted 22 minutes and created quite a stir. It was, by all accounts, a grim and brief audience. Rumours already persisted that links were tense due to previous “snubs.” Asked about the meeting afterwards, Macri said: "I commented to him my great concern to unite Argentines, leaving behind rancour and working on a joint agenda for the future to resolve the country’s problems, especially poverty and drug-trafficking. I further told him that I hoped to continue working with the Argentine Church on this issue towards a country with zero poverty and it was thus very important to agree on unity." The then-president described that first meeting as the reunion of “two old acquaintances from the City who were now seeing each other again in a different situation.” Soon after, Macri announced that the Pope would visit Argentina the following year, though Francis quickly clarified that he had "prior commitments" for 2017. A few months later, in October 2016, they met again when the President returned to the Holy See for the canonisation of priest José Brochero. An hour-long meeting, involving Macri’s family, created a more pleasant outcome. Social leader and lawyer Juan Grabois, an old acquaintance of Bergoglio, gave his opinion: “The differences lie in the cosmic vision. On the one hand are the ideas of the Pope, which are anti-neoliberal and on the other, people like [Macri’s spin doctor Jaime] Durán Barba, who represents the new right.” Towards 2018, the relationship again grew tense when the former president opened up the debate later culminating in the legalisation of abortion, a highly controversial issue for the Church. Macri closed out his term without a visit, though the Pope did not visit, preferring a number of other Latin American nations. The last official communication addressed to Macri on the part of the Pope came in late 2017 ,when Francis briefly entered Argentina’s airspace on his way to Chile. The protocol message, written in English by Cardinal Greg Burke, was the same as that addressed to all heads of state over whose countries his aircraft flew. Alberto and deterioration The Pope’s relationship with former president Alberto Fernández was one of deterioration. Francisco is believed to have been alienated when the former Argentine president, after an initial stage of dialogue with the opposition, opted for confrontation, ramming through the legalisation of abortion in the worst moment of the Covid-19 pandemic after requesting the pontiff’s help in renegotiating Argentina’s debt with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Yet Fernández, mainly during the first period of his term, affirmed that he was in permanent contact with the Pope, who was supposedly advising him. It was striking that he decided, together with former first lady Fabiola Yáñez, to name their son Francisco, which they said was grounded in their admiration for the Pope. Their first meeting after Fernández’s inauguration as president was on January 31, 2020. The tone pointed to a relaxed encounter. After greeting each other, the head of state said to Francis: “You go through first,” to which the reply was: “No, first the altar boy.” Cue laughter. The meeting lasted 44 minutes and analysed the situation worldwide in the face of a pandemic which had yet to hit Argentina, negotiating strategies with the IMF and the importance of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. But by January 2023, the chances of the Pope visiting his homeland were practically null. He sent a message strongly criticising the Fernández presidency, holding "bad administration and bad policies" responsible for growing poverty and inflation while mentioning Argentina’s “awful” inflation of 94.8 percent in 2022. “In 1955, when I finished secondary school, the level of poverty was five percent, while today it is 52 percent. What happened? Bad governments and bad policies,” said the Pope, who vindicated the second presidential term of Juan Domingo Perón. The former president tried to capitalise. “Francis is right. He marks a turning-point which coincides with the overthrow of Perón. He was followed by military coups and conditioned democracies applying economic recipes which only benefitted a few while submerging millions of Argentines in poverty,” he responded in an Infobae interview. Presidential Spokesperson Gabriela Cerutti added: “When he says that policies made the economy what it is, we all know that it is the product of the four years of Macri which we are still overcoming.” Marking the anniversary of the Pope’s consecration in March, 2023, Alberto Fernández enthusiastically posted online: "Francis became Pope 10 years ago. A person whom I admire profoundly, who dared to question the inequality in the world, bringing the Church closer to the most needy. His guidance drives us to dream of and build a more human world. All my affection to him on this day.” Milei: From ‘imbecile’ to ‘honour’ The late pontiff’s relationship with Argentina's current President Javier Milei has undoubtedly swung the wildest, though all the movement has been on the side of the “anarcho-capitalist” economist. While campaigning in 2022 and 2023, Milei defined the Catholic leader as “an imbecile,” “a lefty son of a bitch,” “a bad piece of shit” and “preacher of Communism.” Yet when he visited the Pope at the Vatican in February 2024, soon after taking office, the libertarian dramatically changed his tune. Milei spent some 70 minutes – a record for an Argentine head of state – with the Pope, exchanging gifts and talking. According to a communiqué issued by the Vatican, they talked about the government’s programme "to confront the economic crisis while tackling various international issues, in particular current conflicts and the commitment to peace among nations." In the photos of his visit to the Vatican, Milei can be seen smiling, embracing and kissing somebody whom he once called the "representative of evil on Earth.” In a letter which Milei sent to the Vatican to invite him to Argentina, he detailed that Francis rang him after his inauguration to congratulate him and express his "respect for his work and person." On being consulted as to whether he harboured any grudges over the insults proffered during the campaign Francis replied: "No, words during electoral campaigns come and go." As a result, by the Pope’s death, Milei – who has commented on several occasions on his intention to convert to Judaism – had considerably lowered the tone of his diatribe against Pope Francis. For example, when the pontiff criticised repression meted out by forces under the direction Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and the logic of the market – "if there are no good, rational and equitable policies to strengthen social justice so that everybody has land, a roof, a job, a fair wage and proper social rights, the logic of throwing away humans will be extended, leaving violence and desolation in its path" – the presidential reaction was moderate. “That is the opinion of the Pope, which we respect and to which we listen, even reflecting on what he says. We do not have to share his vision on some questions. But the respect is total and absolute for what the Pope might say,” answered presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni afterwards in a press conference. Quite the turnaround. But not surprising for a self-confessed “political” pope. related news
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