MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Francis kisses and blesses an Argentine flag and received soil from the Falklands cemetery

The Pope kisses and blesses the Argentine flag held by Esteban (Pic E. estaban LN)

Pope Francis on Wednesday received the head of the Buenos Aires Malvinas Museum, Edgardo Esteban, who visited him at his official residence in the Vatican, and as a gift gave him some soil from the Falklands Argentine military cemetery at Darwin.

 “The Pope today practiced the immersive experience of 'Walking on Malvinas', because since the advance of virtual reality, he was able to return to his country, to a territory belonging to our country”, according to Esteban who is also a Malvinas Veteran.

Esteban met the pontiff 08:00 in the morning, Rome time, together with the ambassador before the Holy See, Maria Fernanda Silva, for a private meeting and later participated in the General Audience in the Paul VI lecture room.

“During the visit to Saint Martha, the Pope's residence, he complied with the first part of his experience, some three minutes. It was specifically adapted using special glasses made at the San Martin University, so that Francis could move around the Islands without actually visiting them, merely playing with his hands,” explained Esteban.

The Pope also received a harmonic, from a famous Argentine music player Leon Gieco, of whom the pontiff is an admirer.

Following the General Audience, the Pope blessed and kissed an Argentine flag with the motto, “Malvinas Unites Us”.

Esteban later said that the flag and special glasses “will be exhibited at the Malvinas Museum, he is very generous man”.

The experience, Walking on Malvinas is a proposal for an archeological and geologic tour of the Islands with 3D technology, plus modeling and photogrammetric techniques in different places of the Islands.

This new technology developed at the San Martin University was developed in the framework of a program to Activate the National Heritage, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and addressed to families, schools and other institutions.