Why did Pope Francis leave the Argentinians “orphans”, but also with a question to which he must answer: “What did I do was not worth the visit”?

When the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, left the capital of Argentina to participate in the Vatican conclave to choose Pope Benedict XVI, he did not know and it would be the last time he saw his hometown.

The fact that Pope Francis did not return to his native country after he became a pontiff left some Argentinians deeply grieving and with the feeling that they have become “orphans,” writes BBC News.

Taking the word Monday, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Ignacio García Cerva, said that his parish was “orphaned by a father who deeply loved his country and had to learn to become the father of the whole world.”

He also added that the choice of Francis as a Pontiff “cost us a bit, like Argentinians … Bergoglio left us to become Francis.”

It was a surprise for many – including Bergoglio itself – the fact that, first of all, he was chosen in the highest position within the Catholic Church.

“Total commitment”

76 years old at that time – one year older than the typical age of bishops and cardinals when he presents the pope's resignation – he was not seen as a real candidate for vacancy, according to analysts.

“When he left Buenos Aires for Conclav, he seemed somewhat sad; he was preparing to retreat to a room from the Flores neighborhood of Buenos Aires,” said Guillermo Maró, a priest from the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, for the Argentine Clarín newspaper.

However, Bergoglio would soon start a pontificate that lasted 12 years.

His death was particularly felt in his native country, where seven days of national mourning were decreed – as Argentina cried a man whom many considered simple and humble, although he held one of the most powerful functions in the world.

These qualities were praised by Elenir Ramazol, a nuns who spoke with BBC Mundo Monday, during a job in Francis's memory at the Cathedral of Buenos Aires.

The fact that he did not return to his native country was “a sign of the total commitment he made to the whole church, not only to his people, towards his country,” said Elenir Ramazole.

Gustavo Vera, the leader at Alameda, an Argentine organization against trafficking in people and slavery, remembers exchange hundreds of letters with Francisc, becoming friends with him when Francis was still an archbishop. He agreed that the Sovereign Pontiff has always shown a lasting interest in what was happening in his native country.

“Sometimes commented on football, sometimes about tango, sometimes about cultural events,” Vera said. Francis was following the news in Argentina “in detail,” he added.

A controversial figure

During his papacy, Francis visited four of the five countries that are bordering with Argentina, but never his native country, although he continued to be very interested in it.

He was loved by many Argentinians who cry now, but others remember him as a controversial figure.

The initial pride felt by the majority of the Argentinians after the announcement that a compatriot will be the first Latin American pope has made room for disappointment over the years.

A Pew Research Center survey suggests that the proportion of people who have a positive opinion about the Pontiff decreased from 91%, in 2013, to 64%, in 2024.

Of the six countries in Latin America that were involved in the survey, the highest decrease in favorable attitudes towards Francis was registered in Argentina.

Argentina conservatives accused him of undermining the historical traditions they consider sacred, while reformers hoped for deeper changes.

Critics believe that he did not do enough to oppose the brutal military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s and to criticize the complicity with the regime of some personalities in the church.

Every time he was asked about a possible trip to Argentina, Pope Francis gave vague answers.

“I would love to go. It is my people, but it has not been planned yet. There are several things to solve first,” he said the last time he was publicly asked about this topic, in September 2024.

This hesitation is difficult to understand for some Argentine compatriots.

The absence of the Pontiff has been felt more acute in recent years, because Argentina has gone through a deep economic crisis, with an annual inflation of almost 300% and an increased increase in poverty.

Gustavo Vera suggests that Francis was planning to pay a visit, but he did not do it because he wanted to avoid his presence to be used for political purposes.

“He always used to say that he would go to Argentina when he feels a tool to bring the national unit, to help overcome the break, to try to bring Argentinians back together,” Vera said.

The “fracture” refers to the vast gap, which lasts for decades in the Argentine politics and society, between the supporters and opponents of the peronist populist political movement, founded by the deceased President Juan Perón in the 1940s.

There is a widespread conviction in the country that Pope Francis was a perronistic-which he denied in a book in 2023, adding at the same time: “If we had a peroneal conception of politics, what would be bad in it?”.

The comment was taken over by the conservative detractors who accused him of being too close to the causes of social justice and left policies.

Before taking over the mandate, Javier Milei, the current president who demonized the left policy, even called Pope Francis “the representative of evil on earth”-although he sweetened his tone after reaching power.

The two had a cordial meeting at the Vatican, and the president of the mercy officially invited the Pontiff in Argentina. After the pope's death, Milei declared deeply to his loss and praised the goodwill and wisdom of the pontiff.

Some Argentinians have also accused him of being too close to Cristina Fernández to Kirchner, a populist politician, who divided the society into the peioada where she was president of the country, from 2007 to 2015.

But, according to Vera, the Pope met with people “from the entire political and social spectrum of Argentina”.

“We, the Argentinians, should ask ourselves what we did not deserve the visit of the pope”

The friend of the deceased Sovereign Pontiff also stressed that, while in the press and in the big urban centers there were some criticisms of Pope Francis, he was loved in many other parts of the country.

Although he has kept in touch with Argentina, Vera said, Pope Francis did not feel that it belongs to a single country.

“The Argentinians believe that he was an Argentine, but in reality he was a citizen of the world,” he added.

This point of view is also shared by Alejandra Castro, a social assistant who was among the bereaved people gathered on Monday night at the Cathedral of Buenos Aires.

Argentina was “always in his prayers,” Castro said. “In one way or another, he has always been present and I think this shows that in his heart, Argentina has always been present,” added the social assistant.

But Gustavo Vera acknowledged that not everyone felt the same and suggested that it is up to the Argentinians to look for answers inside them: “Instead of blaming Francisc, we, the Argentinians, should ask ourselves what we did not deserve the visit of the Pope,” he said.