Why did Pope Francis not return home to Argentina during his papacy?
Francis, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires who died Monday at the age of 88, didn't make the return to his motherland despite signaling early on his desires.
The 266th pontiff, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in the Flores neighborhood of the Argentinian capital, never publicly spoke about his failure to return to the South American country.
9 Then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio presides over a mass outside the San Cayetano church with an Argentine flag hanging behind him in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Aug. 7, 2009.
AP
Francis had an open invitation to visit Argentina from all four presidents who served during his papacy since 2013, along with the Argentine Episcopal Conference.
Fears of causing larger political and economic rifts in the country were reportedly a significant factor in why Francis chose not to return to Argentina as he didn't want to be a divisive figure back home.
'It's sad, because we should have been proud to have an Argentine pope,' Francis' childhood neighbor Ardina Aragon told The Associated Press. 'I think there were political factors that influenced him.'
When he left for the Vatican in March 2013 to take part in the conclave after Pope Benedict XVI's surprise resignation, Francis believed he would return shortly, telling parishioners, 'see you soon.'
Francis, a Jesuit, clashed with the Argentinian political class dating back to when he was an archbishop.
9 Pope Francis meets with Argentinian President Javier Milei at the Vatican on Feb. 11, 2024.
AP
9 A picture of Pope Francis sits on display inside Buenos Aires' Metropolitan Cathedral during a mass led by Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Ignacio Garcia Cuerva on April 21, 2025.
REUTERS
He criticized the 'autocratic tendencies' of the country's political class, a dig that then President Néstor Kirchner and his wife, former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner did not take kindly.
Francis at the time supported the Catholic Church's stance on same sex marriage, which caused furor with Fernandez de Kirchner who legalized it in 2010.
Francis also didn't see eye-to-eye with Argentina's current President, Javier Milei, after the former TV personality called the pope an 'imbecile' and 'the representative of the Evil One on Earth' before taking office.
9 A photo of Pope Francis is projected onto the Obelisk in Buenos Aires after hi on April 21, 2025.
AP
9 Pope Francis meets with soccer legend Diego Maradona at Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, on Sept. 1, 2014.
Getty Images
Milei also slammed the pope for promoting social justice, supporting taxes and sympathizing with 'murderous communists.'
In 2024, the two embraced inside the Vatican before the canonization mass of Argentina's first female saint, María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa in what was characterized as a 'cordial meeting.'
Francis's attempt to separate himself from Argentina may have caused his favorability to drop among his countrymen.
9 A mural of Pope Francis sits on the side of a building in La Tablada, Buenos Aires on Feb. 19, 2025.
REUTERS
9 An Argentinian flag is waved in the crowd as Pope Francis drives past thousands of faithful during his visit to Cuba on Sept. 20, 2015.
AP
In a common trend among several Latin American countries and the US, Francis' popularity dropped throughout his term in Vatican City, but saw the largest decrease in his home country.
A Pew Research poll found 91 percent of Argentinians held a favorable opinion of him when he was first elected to the papacy in 2013.
In September 2024, the figure fell to 64 percent.
Thirty percent of adults had unfavorable opinions towards Francis, a steep rise from the three percent in 2013.
Although he never visited Argentina, Francis returned to South America when he visited Brazil in the first months of his papacy during his first overseas trip in July 2013.
He visited four of the five nations that border Argentina – Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay.
Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva, Francis' successor at his former diocese, said his parishioners became 'orphans of a father who profoundly loved his country and had to learn to become the father of the whole world.'
9 Pope Francis waves to faithful as he arrives for his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Feb. 12, 2025.
AP
9 Pope Francis body is laid inside a single coffin, dressed in papal vestments before his public viewing at the Vatican on April 21, 2025.
VATICAN MEDIA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
He added that 'Francis becoming Pope 'cost us as Argentines a little bit… Bergoglio left us to become Francis.'
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