MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Macri and opposition governors will meet Pope Francis on Saturday

The Argentine president is seen chatting with Salta governor Uturbey at Ezeiza

Argentine President Mauricio Macri flew after midday to Rome ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Macri flew in an Alitalia commercial flight accompanied by his wife Juliana Awada, their small daughter Antonia and a small delegation of close aides and three provincial governors specially invited for the occasion.

 The delegation includes Cabinet chief Marcos Peña; Foreign minister Susana Malcorra; Worship Secretary Santiago de Estrada and Strategic Planning Secretary Fulvio Pompeo. The three governors are Alfredo Cornejo from Mendoza an early supporter of Macri's winning coalition “Let's Change” and two independent opposition leaders, Juan Manuel Uturbey from Salta and Tierra del Fuego's Rosana Bertone.

Governor Uturbey is a young lawyer belonging to a political family from the north of Argentina and is a rising star in the opposition Peronist movement, but who has adopted a constructive attitude towards the Macri administration.

The Argentine president when his recent trip to the Davos economic forum also invited a member of the opposition, Sergio Massa, a presidential hopeful who came in third in the October election.

Once in Rome, Macri is scheduled to meet with Francis on Saturday at 09:30 in the morning at the Library of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.

The last time Macri and Francis met was on 19 September 2013, when he travelled with his wife, now First Lady and their daughter Antonia. When the president was Mayor of Buenos Aires City and Jorge Bergoglio was Archbishop they had a good formal relation, and when he became pope, Macri was among the first to visit him.

Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin anticipated that the Pope will be giving Macri a commemorative print of the Jubilee of Mercy – the “Misericordiae Vultus”, “The Face of Mercy.”

The topic of mercy has indeed been one of the most important themes of Francis’ papacy. On the second anniversary of his election as head of the Roman Catholic Church, the pontiff made the surprise announcement in St. Peter's Basilica the Holy Year was going to focus on the topic of mercy, starting on December 8, 2015 and ending on November 20, 2016.

Macri before leaving for Rome met with his visiting French peer Francois Hollande, and took him for a tour of the world famous “La Bombonera” stadium, belonging to one of Argentina's two leading teams, Boca Juniors. Macri was president of the team for several years and with great success. Hollande is also a fan of football.

At the field part of the ceremony besides kicking several penalties was to exchange team shirts with the names of the two presidents.

Macri''s predecessor, ex-president Cristina Fernandez and her late husband Nestor Fernandez were harsh critics of Buenos Aires archbishop Bergoglio for his reiterated calls to an end to corruption and cheap politics, but once he was named Pope Francis, she visited him several times at the Vatican, and cultivated good relations.

Since the Pope did not make public any congratulations to Macri on his election or when he took office last December, rumors are that he favored a victory of Cristina Fernandez hand-picked candidate Daniel Scioli. However there was an official message from the Vatican state, and Macri later called Bergoglio on his birthday.

The latest difference to surface was the rosary the Pope recently sent to a well known woman activist in the north of Argentina, who in under custody for alleged fraud and stealing funds from the federal government to be distributed among the needy under social programs. Milagro Sala political grass root tactics had the support from the Cristina Fernandez administration.