Funeral of Benedict XVI: why didn’t the government of Alberto Fernández send any representatives from Buenos Aires?

The government of Argentina, the tenth country by number of Catholics in the world and from which the current Pope Francis comes, has decided not to send from Buenos Aires to no representative a funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, as could have been Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero.

In the Casa Rosada they explain that since it is a pontiff emeritus it is not a state funeral, but a solemn one, and that at the behest of Benedict XVI he has just been invited by the presidents of his homeland, Germany, Frank Walter Steinmeier, and of Italy, Sergio Mattarella.

In any case, the emeritus queen of Spain, Sofia, confirmed their presence at the ceremony; King Felipe and Queen Margaret of Belgium and the Presidents of Poland Andrzej Duda; from Hungary, Katalin Novak (Prime Minister Viktor Orban was in the funeral chapel on Tuesday), and from Portugal, Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa.

Argentina was represented by the ambassador to the Holy See, María Fernanda Silva, a career diplomat with excellent relations with Pope Francis since he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. Moreover, for the Church it was the Secretary General of the Episcopate, Mons. Alberto Bochatey.

Tense relationship

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The relationship between the Argentine government and Benedict XVI – first during the presidency of Néstor Kirchner and then of Cristina Fernández – was marked by a series of friction after the good bond that there was always with his predecessor John Paul II during the various administrations after the country’s return to democracy.

The first disagreement with the pontificate of Joseph Ratzinger occurred when Néstor Kirchner removed the military bishop Antonio Baseotto because he made an analogy with death flights occurred during the dictatorship to criticize the decision of the then Minister of Health, Ginés González García, to distribute condoms among teenagers.

The Vatican ignored the presidential decision and kept Baseotto in office for two years, until he reached 75, the retirement age, and, in retaliation, the Casa Rosada delayed accepting his successor and until He has threatened to dissolve the military bishopric.

When the link seemed restored with the hiring of Cristina Fernández, the Vatican’s refusal to grant the placet as ambassador to Alberto Iribarne, due to his status as separated Catholic in new unionprovoked the angry reaction of Buenos Aires.

Needless for Rome to clarify that it was an obligation for all countries in force for centuries that the proposed ambassador, if Catholic, dmust be religiously married for all countries: the government has left the embassy in the hands of the charge d’affaires.

Another friction was the fact that the Vatican, by creating the diocese of Tierra del Fuego, will not include the Falkland Islandswhich provoked a protest from the Casa Rosada.

Incidentally, he did not recognize the creation of another minor hierarchy created at that time – the prelature of Esquel.

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