Pope and Argentine president appear to find common ground

President Javier Milei of Argentina, before taking office Pope Francis ridiculed as an “imbecile” and accusing him of breaking the Ten Commandments, he met with the Pope on Monday for an hour-long conversation that the Vatican described as “cordial.”

The Vatican said in a statement that the two leaders had spoken in a closed meeting about their shared will to further strengthen relations and discussed the Milei government's program to tackle the economic crisis in Argentina, where the annual inflation rate is 211 percent.

On social media, Mr. Milei's office posted a photo of the Pope with the President and the President's sister, Karina Milei, one of his closest advisers.

The discussions, which took place a day after Mr. Milei attended a Mass for the canonization of Argentina's first female saint, also touched on international issues, “especially ongoing conflicts and the commitment to peace among nations,” the Vatican said.

Goodwill was not self-evident. Both men were born in Buenos Aires, and although the Pope is a national hero to many in Argentina a majority of people identify as Roman CatholicMr. Milei, who says he is an “anarcho-capitalist” and who ran under the banner of a far-right libertarian party, has repeatedly denigrated Francis.

In the years leading up to his election in November, Mr. Milei often attacked the pope, who has repeatedly spoken out in his writings and speeches against free-market economies because they generate income inequality that affects the most vulnerable.

In 2020, Mr. Milei called Francis “the representative of the Evil One on earth” for the Pope's defense of “social justice.” Two years later, Mr. Milei said that Francis “is always on the side of evil” because the Pope supported taxes.

Francis appeared unperturbed and brushed off the criticism as electoral exaggeration. Mr. Milei's comments were made “in jest,” the pope said an interview in December at a Mexican broadcaster.

“You have to make a lot of distinction between what a politician says during the election campaign and what he actually does afterwards,” Francis added, “because then comes the moment of concreteness, of decisions.”

Francis has often downplayed criticism, even the most vitriolic — part of a strategy to keep political doors open even to leaders who hold views he rejects.

It hasn't always worked in his favor. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Pope was initially criticized for his position on Moscow; he finally called out the aggressor only after months had passed.

Mr. Milei's tone toward the pope softened after he was elected president late last year Francis called him after his victory. Mr. Milei's office said in a statement at the time that the pope had contacted Mr. Milei to “congratulate him and express his wishes for the unity and progress of our country.”

On Sunday, Mr. Milei attended a Mass celebrating the canonization of María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, known as Mama Antula, an 18th-century woman who gave up her wealth to care for the poor. She also kept alive the work of the Jesuits, the order to which Francis belongs, after it was expelled from Argentina.

Francis praised her Sunday as a “model of apostolic enthusiasm and daring for us,” and urged his listeners to overcome prejudice and fear and be close to the poor. “How many suffering men and women do we meet on the doorsteps of our cities,” he said

After the ceremony, Francis was taken in a wheelchair to greet the Argentine president. The two men exchanged a few words before Mr. Milei leaned over and gave Francis a hug.

There was widespread speculation among Vatican experts that the two leaders would discuss a possible papal trip to Argentina during their meeting, but the Vatican did not confirm any discussion on that subject. Francis has made 44 trips outside Italy since becoming pope almost 11 years ago, but has never returned home. In January, Mr. Milei sent a formal invitation.

In an interview on Friday with Vatican Newsan official representative of the Vatican, Archbishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva of Buenos Aires said the Argentine people were waiting for Pope Francis “and want to meet their pastor.”

The Archbishop also spoke about the current economic situation in Argentina. In the two months since Mr Milei took office, inflation has soared and the value of the national currency has plummeted, sparking protests and strikes. Despite the economic chaos, Mr. Milei's rating has remained high.

“On the one hand, we cannot remain indifferent, because for us the poverty indexes and the poverty indexes tell us about concrete faces, about concrete brothers and sisters who are very badly off,” the archbishop said.

“They are not numbers but concrete faces, and as I always say, the political, business and religious leaders, we all have a small responsibility to reach this situation,” he added.

Mr Milei arrived in Italy from Israel, where he had promised to move his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The decision was praised by the Israeli government and criticized by Hamas, the armed Palestinian group with which Israel is at war in the Gaza Strip.

Mr Milei was due to meet Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday afternoon.

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