VATICAN (CNS): Comments by Javier Milei, a leading Argentinian presidential candidate, may have dampened hopes that Pope Francis would soon visit his home country for the first time since becoming pope, the Cardinal-designate Víctor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said in an interview with Spanish media outlet Religión Digital.
Asked whether Pope Francis would still travel to Argentina despite the comments, Cardinal-designate Fernández, a fellow Argentine said, “Surely the pope will not go somewhere where he is not invited, where they can use or complicate his visit for political benefit or where the authorities look down on his presence.”
Milei, in an interview with controversial American media personality, Tucker Carlson, on September 15, said Pope Francis “has an affinity for communist murderers,” naming former Cuban President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as examples.
Milei said the pope “plays politics” and “is lenient of those on the left, even if they truly are murderers.”
Argentine priests celebrated a community Mass in a poor neighbourhood of Argentina September 5 to “make amends” for comments Milei made against the pope while campaigning. Argentina’s general elections are scheduled for October 22.
In April, Pope Francis told the Argentine newspaper, La Nación, that he planned to visit Argentina in 2024, but also asked, “Please don’t link me with Argentine politics.”
