Cordial Photograph - President Christina and Pope Francis Show Mutual Repect

Argentina's President Meets Pope Francis

 

Francis Meets Argentine Leader After Frosty Ties
 By RACHEL DONADIO

 

Another running start day for Pope Francis  as he welcomed his country's president!  Let's hope the positive body language  pictured in this photograph sticks.  Of course, the two will not agree on the President's positions opposing strict Church doctrines. Nevertheless, Argentina's President's respectful presentation to the Pope, and his response, is the right way to launch the Pope as the world's preeminent religious leader.
VATICAN CITY — A day ahead of his formal installation, Pope Francis met privately on Monday with Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the president of his native Argentina,

with whom he had clashed over social issues such as Argentina’s legalizing gay marriage. 

 

They met for 15 minutes of private conversation before having lunch together, the Vatican said. It did not issue a statement, but in a news conference later in Rome, Mrs. Kirchner said she found the Pope, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, “calm, confident and at peace, tranquil.  I could also say that he is occupied and concerned about the immense task not only to govern Vatican City State, but to change things that he knows need to change,” she added.

 

It must be a huge relief for the People of Argentina to see their President Christina exercise such excellent political judgment in her presentation to Pope Francis in Rome.  Their sharp differences on some social issues should certainly not interfere with their mutual goals to improve people's lives.