After his death on Monday, Argentine President Javier Mairi honored his fellow Pope Francis and celebrated youth outreach by saying, “An unannounceable struggle… promoting inter-religious dialogue in order to protect lives.”
The Vatican announced Monday that he died Monday morning at the age of 88 after his final appearance during the Easter Celebration Service the night before. The bishop struggled with respiratory illness for several months before his death and was hospitalized for several weeks in February and March. Born in Argentina as Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis was elected the first Latin American pope, and in 2013 he first represented the Jesuit order and took over Pope Benedict XVI.
Pope Francis devoted much of his legacy to advocating for immigrant dignity, climate change recognition and mediation efforts with some of the world’s most oppressive regimes. Before becoming president in 2023, libertarian economist Mairay accused Pope Francis of defending “social justice” on behalf of “evil.” He visited the Vatican, explaining that both sides were “friendly” and warm meetings, hugging and laughing the photos both sides met Pope Francis.
Mairi briefly mentioned his disagreement with the Pope in Monday’s message, describing them as “minors” and honoring his legacy.
“In this sad pain, I know that on this sad day Pope Francis Jorge Bergolio, passed away today and is now resting peacefully,” Mairay said in a message published on social media. “It was a real honor for me to be able to meet him with his elegance and wisdom, despite our differences today.”
“As President, as Argentina, and basically as a person of faith, I say goodbye to my Holy Father and accompany everyone who found myself today on this sad news.”
Mairi, a Catholic who publicly stated his intention to convert to Judaism following the end of his presidency. It has been declared A seven-day mourning period on Monday. The Presidential Office has also issued another statement honoring Pope Francis.
“The Republic of Argentina is a country with a long Catholic tradition and the land of Pope Francis, and we deeply lament the departure of his sanctity and make its palatable dol.” read. “President Javier Miley highlights the rare struggle of Francis’s Pope to honor life, promote interfaith dialogue and bring a friendly and spiritual life to the youngest.”
Mairay was once undoubtedly the most visceral of the Pope critics in his home country.
“Vy Wish was a crime of the capital. We need to let Inbesil know in Rome [Pope Francis] And defending social justice knowing that it is theft and it goes against the commandments,” Miley said in a 2020 local news program, “That vy hope, the basis of social justice, is a crime and extraordinary of the capital.”
“I will say that in advance, the Pope is the representative of the evil ones on earth who occupy the throne of God’s house,” he continued. “Did you know that the Pope promoted all the disasters it caused and communism, and that it was against the Holy Bible?”
Mairay continued to argue that Pope Francis “promotes a regime of poverty and misery.”
Milei’s comments urged more than 20 Argentine priests to organize the “Tone Sin masses” three years after Milei appeared as the presidential frontline in the elections that year. Miley won that election, and Pope Francis sent an invitation to the Vatican shortly after he took office.
The two met in February 2024. At the public opening of their meeting, the Pope joked about his hair, and the two laughed and hugged him. Both sides described their conversation as “heartful” and the atmosphere as friendly.
During their exchange, Mairay gave Pope Francis a copy of a handwritten letter from the late Prime Minister Jose Maria Gutierrez to the late Argentine diplomat Juan Bautista Alberdi in 1854. Alpha Joretraditional Argentine sandwich cookies. The Pope gave a bronze medallion inspired by St. Peter’s Bardatin, and a copy of the message for peace this year to a bronze medallion inspired by St. Peter’s Bardatin.
“One thing I’ve noticed recently is that the Pope is the most important Argentinian in all of Argentina and he is the leader of the world’s Catholics,” Mairi said in an interview after the visit, announcing that he “rethinking some positions” and pursued a “positive” relationship with the Pope.
The Archbishop of Jorge Ignacio Garcia Querva of Buenos Aires, presided over the regular mass on Monday morning, offering the first opportunity to pray for the soul of the Pope.
“We pray this Eucharist especially for the eternal rest of our beloved Pope Francis,” said the Archbishop. I said congregation. “The Pope of the poor, marginalized people excludes many whom no one loves, or in any case.”
The Vatican is a press conference preparing the Pope’s memorial ceremony and the Conclave to choose his successor.
