Cristina Kirchner asks Pope Francis to intervene in Falklands row
Cristina Kirchner has appealed to Pope Francis, a fellow Argentine, to intervene in the diplomatic war with Britain over the Falkland Islands.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez meets Pope Francis at the Vatican Photo: AP
By Nick Squires, Rome, and agencies 4:12PM GMT 18 Mar 2013
The Argentine president met the Pope, who was elected last week as the successor to Benedict XVI, at a private meeting in the Vatican. She was the first foreign head of state to meet Francis, who is just five days into his papacy.
At a press conference in Rome afterwards, Mrs Kirchner told journalists: “I asked his intervention to promote dialogue between the two sides.” She referred to the diplomatic confrontation as “the question of the Malvinas”.
She was also quoted by Italian news agencies as saying: “I asked the Holy Father to bring together the two parties (Argentina and the UK) to prevent the issue becoming a problem again.”
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner with a gift for the newly elected Pope Francis (Reuters)
She noted that Pope John Paul II had mediated in a conflict between Argentina and Chile in the 1970s.
Pope Francis's views on the Falkland Islands remain unclear, but he once told a congregation of Argentine veterans that those who died there during the 1982 war with Britain were "reclaiming what is theirs".
During a Mass on April 2 last year to mark the 30th anniversary of the start of the war, the then Cardinal Bergoglio called for the vindication of "all" of those who fought against the British over the Falklands Islands.
"We come to pray for those who have fallen, sons of the homeland who set out to defend his mother, the homeland, to claim the country that is theirs and they were usurped," he said.
Mrs Kirchner has previously suggested that the Pope could help mediate in her country's dispute with Britain over the remote islands. The lunch between the Pope and Mrs Kirchner came today as world leaders arrived in Rome ahead of his inauguration mass.
It was seen as a diplomatic test for Francis, the first pontiff from Latin America, who had testy relations with Mrs Kirchner when he was the bishop of Buenos Aires, particularly over gay marriage and abortion laws.
Her late husband Nestor had called Jorge Mario Bergoglio "the true head of the opposition" because of his behind-the-scenes meetings with political leaders.
Upon Bergoglio's surprise election as pontiff, Mrs Kirchner tersely wished him a "fruitful pastoral mission", noting that he had "tremendous responsibility on his shoulders, seeking justice, equality, brotherhood and peace among mankind."
On Monday, however, the Pope appeared to have won Mrs Kirchner over with his charm. She gave the new Pontiff a mate gourd and straw, to hold the traditional Argentine tea that Francis loves, and he gave her a kiss.
"Never in my life has a pope kissed me!" she said afterwards. The Pope has won hearts with his humble style but is haunted by criticism at home for failing to speak out during Argentina's brutal "Dirty War" when he was head of the country's Jesuits.
The Vatican has firmly denied claims that he failed to protect two Jesuit priests who were tortured by the 1976-1983 regime, saying that he had in fact protected lives during the dictatorship.
The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics will be formally enthroned Tuesday at a mass in St Peter's Square, with city authorities preparing for an influx of up to a million people to Rome.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault are among European leaders set to attend, along with EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe flew into Rome on Monday, sidestepping a travel ban that applies to the EU but not to the sovereign Vatican City state.
US Vice President Joe Biden, also a practising Catholic, arrived late Sunday to represent Washington at the event precipitated by the shock resignation of Francis's predecessor Benedict XVI.
The Argentine president met Francis in his modest apartment in the Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta, where he was staying as cardinal during the conclave. He has yet to move into the main papal residence.
The new pope also faces a diplomatic minefield with the planned attendance of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, which sparked an angry response from Beijing.
China, which bitterly opposes any steps that imply recognition of Taiwan by other countries, has also long had strained relations with the Vatican in a dispute about authority over Catholics in the country.
In 2005 Taiwan's then president Chen Shui-bian attended John Paul II's funeral. The first meeting between the new leaders of the Catholic and Anglican churches - Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby - will have to wait, however.
Welby will miss the inauguration mass because he will be on a "pilgrimage of prayer" in Britain, his office announced Sunday. Welby, who wished Pope Francis "every blessing" following his election, will be represented at the ceremony by one of the Anglican world's leading figures, Archbishop of York John Sentamu.
Source: AFP
