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Francis scheduled to visit Argentina, Chile and Uruguay next December

Wednesday, March 27th 2013 - 07:57 UTC
Full article 10 comments
By choosing December the Pope avoids involvement in Argentina’s October mid term elections By choosing December the Pope avoids involvement in Argentina’s October mid term elections

Pope Francis is scheduled to make his first official visit to Argentina, where he was born, next December ‘to be close to his fellow compatriots’, according to ecclesiastic sources in Buenos Aires. The visit in the first half of December could extend to neighbouring Uruguay and Chile.

However the Vatican has confirmed that Francis will be visiting Brazil next July to participate in the World Youth Congress, which will become the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio’s first trip overseas as Pope. The event is scheduled to last from July 23 to 28.

The date picked to travel to Argentina is not without significance. It will be after the coming mid term elections in October in which President Cristina Fernandez future is to be decided since she can only have a chance of re-re-election if the constitution is modified and for this she needs the support of two thirds of the General Assembly.

Another pious and humble picture with the Pope just a few weeks before the crucial election would certainly have been ‘God’s hand gift’, but Cardinal Bergoglio is well aware of Argentine politics as not to commit such a clumsy move.

Despite the fact that the Argentine president and her deceased husband Nestor Kirchner had a distant relation with Bergoglio when he was head of Argentina’s Episcopal Conference and Buenos Aires Archbishop, since he preached openly against corruption and poverty in Argentina, Cristina Fernandez adopted a clearly conciliatory attitude towards Francis during their first private interview in the Vatican and was also strongly moved by the coronation ceremony a week ago.

According to La Nacion the Pope mentioned to Cristina Fernandez that he had to decide to travel to Argentina later in the year so as to avoid involvement in the coming electoral process.

Besides next December is the 35th anniversary of the Beagle channel peace treaty, which prevented a war between neighbouring Chile and Argentina over three islands in the extreme south of the continent. Likewise December 10 will be the 30th anniversary of the return of democracy to Argentina when a civilian government was elected after long years of military dictatorship and the collapse of the regime following the Malvinas invasion disaster.

Back in 1987 Pope John Paul II visited Argentina and also included in the tour, Chile and Uruguay.
 

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  • Shed-time

    Are they going to bring out the desiccated arm of some long-dead orgiastic pope for them all to pray to in a festival of necromancy and idolatry?

    Normal catholic service then.

    Mar 27th, 2013 - 09:44 am 0
  • Viscount Falkland

    No doubt he will pop over to see his small flock in the Falkland Islands and be the first Pope to do so.He would be very welcome by everyone.
    However, the Whore of Babylon would throw all the toy's out of the pram ,so that won't happen !

    Mar 27th, 2013 - 10:11 am 0
  • Shed-time

    There aren't many golden statues of Mary in the Falklands for him to pray to for magic-luck, so I doubt it's on his top ten list of vacation spots.

    ... also the choir is made up of middle-aged women.

    Mar 27th, 2013 - 10:22 am 0
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