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An interesting and endearing piece appeared on BBC News about the Pope’s move to Rome in 2013 and why he had never returned to his homeland.

 Gustavo Vera, leader of La Alameda, an Argentine anti-trafficking and slavery organisation and a personal friend of Pope Francis, suggested that Francis was planning to visit, but never got round to it because he wanted to avoid his presence being used for political purposes: “He always used to say he would go to Argentina when he felt that he was an instrument to bring about national unity, to help overcome the rift (between pro- and anti- Peronists), to try to bring Argentines back together.”

 Certainly there was potentially strong political fallout associated with any visit, which made the timing very important. Some people regarded Pope Francis as a Peronist, a follower of the populist left wing political movement founded by late President Juan Perón in the 1940s and continued by many Argentinian presidents since, including Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was president from 2007 to 2015. On the other side, the current, arch right wing president, Javier Milei, referred to Pope Francis as “the representation of evil on Earth”, although this was before taking office, and he softened his tone afterwards.

 The news story also told us that all concerned were surprised that the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected Pope. Not only was he 76 years old, a year older than the typical age of bishops and cardinals to retire, but also that he was getting ready for his own retirement at a Priests’ Home in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Flores.

 Read the BBC News story here.

 Picture above: a caricature of the Pope at La Boca, Buenos Aires.