Pope Francis met this Monday in the Vatican for the first time with the Argentine president, Javier Mileifor an hour and gave him dulce de leche alfajores and lemon cookies.
The private meeting began at 9:00 (8:00 GMT) and concluded at 10:00 (9:00 GMT) and later the greeting of the delegation and the delivery of gifts took placethe Vatican reported.
Milei arrived at 8:58 (7:58 GMT) at the Patio de San Damaso, which gives access to the apostolic palace, a few minutes late, since his arrival was scheduled at 8:45 (7:45 GMT), since on the way to the meeting he He stopped in front of the Argentine embassy to take a photo with some compatriots.
After, The Argentine delegation held a meeting with the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin.
The president donated to the pontiff a copy of the handwritten letter from Chancellor José María Gutiérrez to Juan Bautista Alberdi accrediting him as representative in Europe, dated May 1854, a painting with the image of the commemorative postcard of the first Argentine saint, Mama Antula, which was canonized this Sunday and which the Correo Argentino distributed on the occasion of her beatification.
As well as dulce de leche alfajores and lemon cookies from the pontiff's favorite brandas specified by Milei's spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, in his account on X.
For his part, the Argentine pontiff gave Milei, as he usually does to all those who visit him, his message of Peace for this year, some of his writings and a bronze medallion with a cross and a dove, which is inspired by the baldachin of St. Peter's Basilica made by Gian Lorenzo Bernini “and which symbolizes the harmony between the sacred and the divine, uniting heaven and earth.”
Upon arrival, Milei was received by the head of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, Leonardo Sapienza, and the 'gentlemen' who accompanied him on a tour through the impressive corridors decorated with frescoes until reaching the Second Lodge, where the library of the pontifical apartment is locatedplace where hearings are held.
The president is accompanied by his sister and general secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei; his Foreign Minister, Diana Mondino; the head of the Interior, Guillermo Francos; that of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovello; the Secretary of Worship, Francisco Sánchez, and the ambassador to Israel, Rabbi Axel Wahnish, who will join at the end of the meeting for a greeting.
Francisco's meeting with Milei was somewhat longer than the one he had with previous leaders such as Alberto Fernández, with whom he spoke privately for about 40 minutes, or with Mauricio Macri, who also lasted around an hour, although the first had only been for 20 minutes.
With Cristina Fernández, the pontiff had up to seven meetings inside and outside the Vatican and on March 17, 2014 he had lunch with Francis for about three hours.
This Sunday Milei attended the canonization mass of María José de Paz y Figueroa, better known as Mama Antula, and there she was able greeting Pope Francis for the first time after the then presidential candidate considered the pontiff a “representative of evil on earth” and a supporter of “bloody dictatorships”.
During this meeting, Milei affectionately hugged the pope and asked to give him a kiss while the Argentine pontiff, jokingly, exclaimed: “You cut your hair!”, amidst the laughter of both. “I messed it up,” the president responded, taking his hands and laughing, as heard in the videos of the meeting.
There was talk of the program to face the economic crisis
The Argentine president, Javier Milei, addressed in his meetings at the Vatican Secretariat of State, after his meeting with Pope Francis, “the new Government's program to confront the economic crisis and the commitment to peace among nations”.
During “the cordial conversations in the Secretariat of State” also “satisfaction was expressed for the good relations between the Holy See and the Argentine Republic and the desire to strengthen them even further,” according to a brief statement from the Vatican.
“In the continuation of the conversation, several international topics were addressed, in particular current conflicts and the commitment to peace between nations,” adds the Vatican note in which only the topics discussed with the Secretariat of State were reported.
EFE
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