He Pope Francisco and the president Javier Milei
met today at the Vatican, hours after the canonization ceremony of Mother Antula, the first Argentine saint. The private audience, as it turned out, was relaxed and lasted an hour.

The meeting between the two took place during the early hours of the morning in Argentina. It was an hour and ten minutes in which the president and the Supreme Pontiff exchanged alone, and then gave way to the general secretary of the Presidency, Karina Mileiand finally to the Ministers of the Interior, Guillermo Francos; Human capital, Sandra Pettovelloand Foreign Affairs, Diana Mondino.

In this more formal exchange, which represented the last leg of Milei’s international tour, the President presented a series of gifts to Pope Francis.

Javier Milei’s three gifts to Pope Francis

Javier Milei gave Francisco a folder with a copy of the chancellor’s handwritten letter José María Gutiérrez believing in Juan Bautista Alberdi as a representative in Europe and a cadre of Mother Antula. He also brought him dulce de leche alfajores and lemon cookies (from the Supreme Pontiff’s preferred brand), according to what the presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, informed Perfil.

Pope Francis canonized Mama Antula, the first Argentine saint

He Pope Francisco canonized María Antonia de San José de Paz y Figueroa, known as Mama Antula, and declared her the first holy Argentine woman in history. The Supreme Pontiff highlighted her as “a model of apostolic fervor and audacity”, in the presence of Javier Miley who was at the ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica.

At 9:45 local (5:45 in Argentina) yesterday Sunday, in front of hundreds of Argentine pilgrims present outside the temple, the Pope officially made Mama Antula a saint by reading in Latin the elevation to the altars of “Beatam Mariam Antoniam to Sancto Ioseph de Paz y Figueroa”.

During the homily, the Pope highlighted that the new saint “walked thousands of kilometers on foot through deserts and dangerous streets,” while calling her “a model of apostolic fervor and audacity.”