Milei arrives at the Vatican for his first audience with Pope Leo XIV

Vatican City.- The President of Argentina, Javier Milei, arrived this Saturday at the Vatican to have an audience with Leo XIV, the first official meeting between the American pope, who also has Peruvian nationality, and the head of the Argentine State.

Milei arrived at 08:50 local time (06:50 GMT) to the San Damaso courtyard that gives access to the apostolic palace, minutes before the meeting with the pontiff, scheduled for 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT).

He was received by the head of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, Leonardo Sapienza, and the ‘gentlemen’ who will accompany him on a tour of the frescoed corridors until reaching the Second Lodge, where the library of the pontifical apartment is located, the place where audiences are held.

After the meeting, the Argentine president will depart for Spain to continue the international tour that began this Friday in Rome, where he met with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and which will also take him to France and Israel.

Milei was present at the funeral of Pope Francis, last April 26, but sent his Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Gerardo Werthein, and of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovello, to represent Argentina at the beginning mass of the pontificate of Leo XIV in Vatican City.

“Thank you very much, Pope Leo XIV, for receiving me with such warmth. It was an honor to share this meeting and discuss the challenges of our time, the possible paths towards peace, understanding, and the strengthening of the relationship between Argentina and the Vatican,” Werthein wrote on May 19th after being received by the pontiff and announcing that the meeting between the Pope and Milei was being finalized.

Following the election of Robert Prevost as Francisco’s successor on May 8th, Milei congratulated him and stated that he hopes he defends life, liberty, and private property.

“Today more than ever, we long for the Pope’s voice to resonate strongly in the defense of the pillars that have sustained civilization: life, as the main gift; freedom, as a sacred gift from the Creator; and private property, as the foundation of personal responsibility and the development of peoples. May his word and testimony be a shield against the culture of death, growing totalitarianism, and immoral relativism,” he said then.

This Friday in Rome, Milei and Meloni adopted a 5-year Action Plan to boost bilateral relations and presided over the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Argentine state-controlled oil company YPF and the Italian ENI.

Today, after meeting with the Pope, Milei will travel to Madrid, then move on to Nice (France) and Tel Aviv, where he will begin a three-day official visit to Israel, a country with which he has strengthened ties since his arrival as President in December 2023.