Analysis

Francis, a divisive pope in Argentina

In ten years, Pope Francis has visited sixty countries, but not once in Argentina.

© VINCENZO PINTO / AFP

Text by: Jean-Louis Buchet

6 mins

Applauded by a unanimous Argentinian people when he was elected on March 13, 2013 ten years ago, he has not since returned to his native country, where he is today a divisive character, because of his influence, real or assumed, on national politics.

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From our correspondent in Buenos Aires,

When he was elected on March 13, 2013, he presented himself as the pope who had come “ 

”.

Argentina in this case, which unanimously applauded his accession to the throne of Saint Peter.

Catholics, followers of other religions, agnostics, lay people, all in his country of origin have welcomed the fact that Jorge Mario Bergoglio, until then archbishop of Buenos Aires, has become pope under the name of Francis.

But ten years have passed and his “end of the world” still awaits him.

“Father Jorge”, as he was called here, has not returned to Argentina since his election, which does not fail to surprise, in his country and elsewhere in the world.

Especially since he did not fail to travel during these ten years of pontificate, despite his age (87 years old today) and recent health problems which handicap him in his travels.

In total, the Pope made 40 apostolic journeys, which took him to sixty countries, including nine in Latin America: barely elected, in July 2013, he went to Brazil for World Youth Day (WYD).

Two years later, in July 2015, he visited Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay.

In September of the same year, Francis goes to Cuba, in a trip that also includes the United States.

In February 2016, we find him in Mexico, in September 2017 in Colombia,

and Peru.

Political recovery

In ten years of pontificate, Francis will therefore have visited the two most important Latin American countries, Brazil and Mexico, which are also mainly Catholic, and almost all the Spanish-speaking countries of South America.

But not Argentina.

For what ?

All the Argentine media that interviewed him on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his election obviously asked him this question.

By way of response, François claims to have thought about it “ 

 ”, but without finding a possible date.

January 2018, after Chile and Peru?

Excluded, because January is the month of the big holidays in Argentina (like August in France), impossible to gather the faithful, for the most part at the beach, if not in the mountains or in the countryside, he says.

No other possible date in ten years?

Difficult, given his agenda, necessarily busy, and the Argentine electoral calendar.

“ 

” the pope said.

However, Argentina votes every two years, the medium-term legislative elections taking place between two presidential elections... So it will not come this year either, when it will be necessary to elect a successor to Peronist President Alberto Fernández, to renew half of the seats of the Chamber of Deputies and a third of those of the Senate.

If this last argument is admissible, many believe that the pope has not really sought to visit his country since his election.

Not to avoid being involved in national politics, but, on the contrary, because he never stopped getting involved.

To the point that this man, who was unanimous at home in 2013, today divides the Argentines.

Many of his compatriots criticize him for certain statements considered partisan, gestures towards political figures and directives that he would give to the local church, and in particular to his successor in the archdiocese of Buenos Aires Mario Polite.

Under these conditions, he ran the risk, in the event of a visit, of being acclaimed by some, but with slogans that would not necessarily have pleased him, and ignored, if not rejected, by others.

Hence his embarrassment,

What is it in reality?

It is true that Francis is present in Argentine political life, which he follows closely, and even more so than he did when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

By messages that he addresses to his compatriots or by declarations of Mario Poli whose inspiration is attributed to him, not without some reason, taking into account the links between them.

Or by receiving trade unionists, social leaders, politicians from his country at the Vatican.

Distant, if not cold during his official meetings with former center-right president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), we saw him relaxed and smiling with Peronist leaders, in particular ex-president Cristina Kirchner (2007- 2011 and 2011-2015), now vice-president, whom he welcomed three times,

A “Peronist Pope”?

For many Argentinians, the case is settled: François has returned to Peronism, which this Jesuit was close to in his youth.

In fact, the pope's social doctrine, deployed today worldwide, is inspired by Peronism, in the sense that it rejects the class struggle while putting the poor and the excluded at the center of pastoral action.

At the archdiocese, he gave priority to the work of priests in underprivileged neighborhoods, where he was often seen.

But those who speak today of a "Peronist pope" forget that, at the same time, Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio had strained relations with Cristina Kirchner when she was president.

No doubt because he wanted to keep his distance and preserve his independence from power, even if he was a Peronist.

In reality, from Bergoglio to Francis,

the message has not really changed.

The difference is that it carries more today and that in Argentina, some, including Kirchner, but also social leaders, use it politically.

Francis was reckless in not taking more distance from the political life of his country.

He showed it again during the debate on the legalization of abortion,

in December 2020. Beyond the well-known position of the Catholic Church, he manifested himself publicly as he does not would not have done for another country, effectively alienating a large part of the youth and many women.

In a kind of marketing operation towards his country, the pope is now trying to clear the ground, to make possible a possible return.

In his latest interviews, he takes a step back from local politics and says he is not a Peronist.

He also expresses the wish to be able to find his compatriots after the next election in 2024. Until then, he will have to remove other ambiguities and give more guarantees to those who accuse him of having chosen a side in politics. Argentina.

For, failing to be unanimous again, at least not to be welcomed as a divisive character.

It is not won in advance.

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