MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

For the Vatican, Cristina Fernandez visit was a low key event

The Argentine president and the Pope at Saturday's meeting

What happened in the Vatican last Saturday when Pope Francis received Argentine president Cristina Fernandez for lunch and a long private talk. According to the visitor the Holy father was concerned about “debt and vulture funds harassment” and contrary to news from Buenos Aires previous to the trip, “the Pope was not at all concerned about governance in Argentina or the democratic process”.

“It’s about debt, interests, harassment to the people, and exponential growth of wealth” the Argentine president told the media, adding that the Pope was concerned about “the way hedge funds can oppress a sovereign nation”.

“The Evangelii Gaudium, for instance, seems written to fit Argentina’s context, but it actually fits every indebted country” indicated president Cristina Fernandez.

At the time there was no comment from the Pope or from his press office or spokesperson. Rather surprisingly, the meeting with Cristina Fernandez and the numerous Argentine delegation (over thirty members) does not figure in the official Saturday agenda of Francis, but yes that of Letonia's president Andirs Berzins, which was confirmed on Monday's edition of the Vatican's daily L'Osservatore Romano.

In effect in the bottom half of the front page of the edition, the two visits are mentioned with a difference. “Audience with the president of the Republic of Letonia” (30 lines and 1.042 characters displayed in two columns plus a picture). The daily points out that the exchange with the Letonian leader was characterized by a “cordial climate” and confirmed the good relations between the Vatican and Letonia.

The article also mentions that Letonia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991, this year adopted the Euro as the official currency and that during the meeting international issues were addressed “in the context that Letonia will be presiding over the European Union Council as of next January first”.

However the news on Cristina Fernandez was far more modest. “Meeting with the president of Argentina”, three lines heading in a single column, smaller picture, much briefer and not a word mentioning the alleged Pope's support in the struggle against the speculative funds.

However according to Argentine independent sources the Pope asked Cristina Fernandez to present before the UN Secretary General and the UN General Assembly his program of Scholas Ocurrentes, with the hopes of making a global program.

The Scholas Ocurrentes is a global association of colleges to promote the 'teaching of peace' and was started in Buenos Aires with the so called Neighbor Schools, the founder then Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio and educator Jose Maria del Corral, who now presides the organization from a Vatican office.

This procedure however is not new for the Argentine Pope. Apparently earlier this month he requested an Argentine union leader and two China experts to deliver a personal letter to President Xi Jinping inviting his to visit the Holy See. The Pope apparently now has commended Cristina Fernandez to present one of his social proposals.

Cristina Fernandez also appealed to the Pope's heart: she delivered a copy of an article in the Wall Street Journal praising billionaires such as Paul Singer (the head of the holdout that has Argentina trapped) because they combat authoritarian governments such as Russia's Vladimir Putin or Turkey's Recep Erdogan. Allegedly the Pope was grateful since he keeps a detailed record of the TWSJ articles attacking Francis economic ideas.