MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pope Francis and president Alberto Fernandez examined Argentine problems

“Holy Father, what a pleasure to see you again,” the Argentine president said as they shook hands. Their private conversation lasted twice as long as that of Fernández’ predecessor, Mauricio Macri

A smiling Pope Francis welcomed the new president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, to the Vatican on Friday morning and then spoke with him in a private audience for 45 minutes, signaling that good relations exist between the two leaders and suggesting that this could perhaps open the door for the pontiff’s first visit to his homeland since his election—though the president later said they did not discuss this.

“Holy Father, what a pleasure to see you again,” the Argentine president said as they shook hands. Their private conversation lasted twice as long as that of Fernández’ predecessor, Mauricio Macri, with Francis in 2016. It was clear from the beginning that their discussion would focus on the dire economic situation in Argentina, where the president has had to take immediate action to deal with the problems of inflation, debts and a significant percentage of the population living in poverty and suffering hunger.

It was expected that they would discuss the president’s decision to introduce legislation in the Argentine Congress to decriminalize abortion, a decision with which the Argentine bishops strongly disagree. In addition to these issues, they were expected to also speak about the situation in Latin America, where Bolivia, Chile and Venezuela are in turmoil, as well as the difficult relations between Argentina and neighboring Brazil. Moreover, since the president had been in Jerusalem last week for the fifth World Forum on the Holocaust, in which some 45 world leaders participated, they likely also talked about the situation in the Holy Land.

The Vatican issued a statement several hours later that confirmed to a large extent that these were among the subjects the president discussed with the pope, and afterward with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Msgr. Mirosław Wachowski, the undersecretary for relations with states.

The statement said that “during the cordial discussions, satisfaction was expressed over the good relations that exist between the Holy See and the Argentine Republic. Afterwards, the situation in the country was examined, with particular reference to problems such as, the economic-financial crisis, the fight against poverty, corruption and drug trafficking, efforts to build up society, and the protection of life from conception. In this context, it was noted the significant contribution of the Catholic Church in favor of all in Argentine society, especially the more vulnerable sectors of the population. Discussions continued and focused on themes of common interest regarding the regional context”.

President Fernández said the debt owed by Argentina to the IMF was one of the main topics that he discussed with Pope Francis and that they “also spoke much about poverty.” The president said, “I asked that he do what he could to help us, and he will do that.”

He added that “the pope is an Argentine concerned for his fatherland and for his people. He loves the Argentines very much.” Fernández also said that he and Pope Francis had not discussed the question of abortion. As for polarization in the country, an issue that is also of great concern to the pope, the president said, “We Argentines must respect each other and put an end to the folly of not doing so.”

When they ended their private conversation, the president presented his delegation to the pope, and they exchanged gifts. Fernández gave Francis a cloth made by persons with disabilities from the Granja Andar foundation, together with a book on the cafes of Buenos Aires and a statue of the black slave known as “Negrito Manuel,” the first devotee of Our Lady of Luján. Pope Francis presented Mr. Fernández with a bronze sculpture of an olive branch made in the Vatican with the wish that he may be “a messenger of peace” for his people. He also gave him copies of his main writings, including “The Joy of the Gospel,” “The Joy of Love” and “Laudato Si’.”

In addition, Francis took a copy of “Gaudete et Exsultate,” and told the president that he had marked a paragraph especially for him—the prayer of St. Thomas More on good humor. Francis then read it aloud for him:

“Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest. Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it. Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil, but rather finds the means to put things back in their place. Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments, nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called ‘I.’ Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor. Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy, and to be able to share it with others” .

He is the third Argentine president to visit the pope in the Vatican. Mr. Fernández is a Catholic, and in his inaugural speech he used various expressions associated with Pope Francis, including “the throwaway culture” and “our common home.” He has been called to govern a country that has significant material and human resources, but today endures a difficult socioeconomic situation. Forty percent of its people are living in poverty, and the country has contracted an immense debt to investors and to the I.M.F., a debt that the president is seeking to renegotiate.

Early Friday morning, before his audience with the pope, President Fernández attended Mass together with his delegation at the tomb of St. Peter, in the crypt under St. Peter’s basilica. Archbishop Sánchez Sorondo, the Argentine-born chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, celebrated the Mass and surprised those present by recalling the memory of Juan Domingo Perón, the Argentine leader whom the archbishop had met in Rome in 1973 and whom he considers to be “close” to Francis, though he said he had never even dreamt that an Argentine would become pope one day.

Having concluded the first leg of his European tour, the Argentine leader will continue with visits to Italy, Germany, Spain and France.