Satisfaction and prudence of the government before the possible visit of Pope Francis

He warned that "the organization of the trip is complex" and waits for confirmation

After the announcement of

dad Francisco

about one
possible visit to Argentina next year, as announced last Sunday by LA NACION, the government was cautious and excessively cautious. Although the members of the executive have clearly expressed the wish that the visit of the Pontiff takes place in 2020, they pointed out that there had not yet been any official announcement and that the organization of a papal trip was "complex".

"The government is absolutely satisfied with the pope's announcement, which is very important, and we have always expressed our desire to see Francisco go to Argentina," government sources said.

However, the sources did not hesitate to emphasize the complexity required to organize a papal visit. "A papal trip is very complex, it is adjusted to a lot of things, one thing is an advertisement and another thing is to put it into practice, it is a pastoral trip or a visit to the level of. They require a different preparation, "they said.

In addition, they explained that beyond the will of Pope Francis to visit the country, no official announcement had yet been made about his trip.

Without a formal announcement, you can not begin preparations to organize the visit. "For the moment, there are only investigations, but nothing at the level of the formal preparation of the trip," they admitted to the government.

Official sources said that for a papal trip to take place, one must first formally invite, by written letter, Argentina and the Argentine Episcopal Conference (CEA).

Once the invitation accepted by the Vatican, the preparation of the journey begins.

Although there is no specific rule, the Vatican generally communicates the pope's journey several months in advance.

For example, Francisco's recent trip to Bulgaria and Macedonia in May, officially announced on December 13 last year.

As the Government has indicated, it must also be taken into account that the probable trip to Argentina also includes Uruguay. "During the visit to Argentina, we must also include the agendas of the Uruguayan government: Uruguay has elections this year – the same day as in Argentina – and the authorities will take office on March 1," government sources told LA NACION. "These are very precise and slow steps," they admit.

L & # 39; bishopric

In the last days of June, there were indications of Francisco's intention to visit Argentina.

At that time, Bishop Oscar Ojea, president of the episcopate, said that Francisco wanted to visit his homeland next year.

"There are those who say that the pope does not want to come to Argentina, but he told me that he wanted to do it and that he was already thinking when he told me that He could not come right away, but maybe by the end of 2020 or in 2021 he would be able to go to the country, "Ojea revealed at a dialogue with Telam on June 20th.

In any case, the bishop of San Isidro clarified that "this is not an official announcement or a specific date".

Already in April and May of this year began to think about a possible presence of Jorge Bergoglio in Argentina. As part of the visit
ad limina This year, the bishops of Argentina formed the Vatican, in three groups in three weeks, and the pastors personally expressed to the pope his desire to make the expected visit.

During the meeting with the bishops of Argentina, the pope revealed that he was planning to come to Argentina in 2017. This eventuality was thwarted by an overlap of the probable visit with the electoral calendar of Chile, a country that he had visited Argentina and was finally postponed until January 2018.

Argentina and Venezuela are the only countries in South America that have not yet received papal visits, along with other smaller states such as Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. .

However, some voices within the Church still have doubts about carrying out the deferred visit. "This has been so often postponed and changed that this time, it sounds like another story," said an ecclesiastical source.