Jorge Mario Bergoglio ascended to the papacy on March 13, 2013, and Cristina Fernandez can’t have enough of him, visiting five times -this time for nearly two hours,
Pope Francis on Sunday met with Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the president of his native country. She assured the Roman Pontiff of the affection and closeness of his fellow Argentines and asked for his blessing on their behalf.
The Pope met in private with Argentina’s president for 90 minutes in the Pope’s study at Vatican City’s Paul VI Hall, during which time they exchanged gifts.
Pope Francis, the former Buenos Aires archbishop, gave the president an 11th century Russian icon of Our Lady of Tenderness, the Holy See press office said.
I wonder how much the 11th century icon would get from Hardcore Pawn.
But I digress.
It’s up to you, gentle reader, to decide whether the frequent visits have anything to do with Cristina’s newly-found adherence to the Catholic Church, her fondness for shopping in Rome, well-timed junkets, or the desperate need for favorable publicity (especially since her son Maximo Kirchner may run for vice president),
From Buenos Aires lawmaker and presidential hopeful and fervent Catholic, Elisa Carrio complained the Pope was meeting with political leaders in Argentina’s election year, something he had promised to avoid precisely to stop politicians taking advantage of his picture and influence
I can’t wait for the June 18 global warming encyclical so the pope (a.k.a. the Vatican’s substitute teacher) can tell me to reduce my carbon footprint.