Leo XIV pays Francis' debt with a four-day visit to Argentina, where he will meet with Javier Milei

Leo Furthermore, his sights are set on the meeting he will have with the Argentine president.

"I come with joy to complete the trip that Francis could not," Leo XIV announced to the 83 journalists accompanying him on the trip, which included Uruguay as the first stopover and will end in Peru, the country that won his heart in the years of apostolic work and whose nationality he has, in addition to his American origin.

That Jorge Bergoglio did not set foot in his country between 2013 and 2025, when, according to the Catholic religion, he served as God's representative on Earth, is an anomaly that continues to astonish people and others: the Argentine Pope, too involved and sensitive to the political miseries of his country, was postponing the trip waiting to find the right moment, until in April 2025 his death came and the Argentines were left without seeing or hearing to his Pope, the first Latin American in history.

Thus, the last Pope to set foot on Argentine soil was John Paul II, in 1987. The Supreme Pontiff arrived that time in a country that was taking the first steps on the path to democracy recovered in 1983, but this time he will do so in a nation that is the scene of an entire political experiment, the ultra-liberal Government of Javier Milei.

The expectation in Argentina, during a visit that will include the Basilica of Luján, 70 kilometers from Buenos Aires, and the province of Córdoba, 800 kilometers from the country's capital, is whether Leo XIV will refer to the complex economic and social situation that Argentines are experiencing. In the Government, top sources from the Casa Rosada told EL MUNDO, they believe that it is between obvious and inevitable: "It is an eminently pastoral visit and there will be no interference with local politics. Now, does it make sense to think that the Pope is not going to talk about poverty? It is something that is part of the Gospel. But to think that this is a message to Milei is a forced interpretation."

Milei's relationship with Francis was anything but normal: during the electoral campaign he came to define Bergoglio as "the representative of the Evil One on Earth", in addition to insulting him on an astonishing eschatological level, but once in power he prostrated himself before his compatriot in the Vatican and asked for forgiveness for his words.

"Don't worry, we all do stupid kid stuff," was the Pope's response, according to Milei himself.

The Argentine Government insisted on one aspect of the visit, the fact that it is possible "because there is an official invitation from the head of state."

"If not, he would not come. And we never respond publicly to critical messages from certain representatives of the Argentine Church. The truth is that the Pope decided to come with this president, when he could have waited until 2028 [after the 2027 presidential elections]."