Pope Francis contacted the president-elect of Argentina, Javier Milei, to congratulate him on his victory in Sunday’s second round of elections. The libertarian economist, who ran for the La Libertad Avanza party, will take office on December 10
By telephone call, the Pontiff greeted the future president of the Argentines in a “pleasant and very good” dialogue, according to what those close to the politician told the Infobae portal.
According to the portal, the person who made contact possible was the Pope’s ophthalmologist, Fabio Bartucci. The phone call was confirmed to ACI Prensa by the Press Office of the Holy See.
During the conversation, the libertarian addressed the Pontiff as “His Holiness,” a leader close to Milei assured that “they spoke very well. It was exciting.”
Witnesses of the two communications indicated to Infobae that Pope Francis pointed out to the new president that “health, education, and poverty are very important issues.”
In response, Milei showed his conviction about the changes he plans to make and assured that “they are going to be good for the people.”
Pope Francis urged the future president to have “wisdom and courage to govern,” he replied: “I have the courage. I am working on the wisdom.”
The communication from Rome comes after several tensions between Milei and Pope Francis. In public statements, the next president had assured that the Pontiff was “the representative of evil on Earth” and had given him other insults, for which he was urged to apologize.
In the presidential debates, Javier Milei, in addition to apologizing, guaranteed that if the Pope wants to visit Argentina, he will be respected “not only as head of state but as leader of the Catholic Church.”
In recent weeks, the possibility of Pope Francis’s visit to his native country began to gain strength, and even the bishops of the Episcopal Conference formalized the invitation with a letter. Some versions assured that the decision to travel did not depend on the result of the elections.
This article was originally published on ACI Prensa.
