Pope and Argentine President Milei embrace after pontiff canonizes Argentina’s first female saint

By NICOLE WINFIELD, ALESSANDRA TARANTINO and GIANFRANCO STARA
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Argentina’s faith and politics have come together at the Vatican. Pope Francis on Sunday canonized the country’s first female saint with Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, sitting in the front row of St. Peter’s Basilica. The two embraced at the end of the Mass. The service marked the first meeting between the Argentine pope and Milei, who once called Francis an “imbecile” for defending social justice. The occasion of their meeting was the canonization of Mama Antula. She was an 18th century laywoman who ministered to the poor and helped keep Jesuit spirituality alive in Argentina after the pope’s own religious order was suppressed.