Argentines fear pope Francis may never visit

Argentines have long waited for their homegrown Pope Francis to visit the country he left in 2013 to become the head of the Catholic Church. With his health now at its most delicate after battling double pneumonia the hoped-for return may never happen.

Pope Francis, 88, has been in critical condition due to a lung infection, though has stabilized in recent days. But his two weeks in Rome's Gemelli hospital is the longest stay of his papacy and underscores his frailty. Some fear he is near the end, while the illness will undoubtedly curtail the many bruising tours he made overseas - just never to Argentina.

Many in Argentina anticipated a visit to the country shortly after Francis took office and visited Brazil, one of the many international trips he made during his pontificate. There was again chatter about a trip last year. But in both cases the visit never materialized. During his papacy, the first ever by a Latin American pope, Argentina has been rocked by repeated economic crises and political volatility. The current government is led by a far-right libertarian Javier Milei, who has helped stabilize the economy though ushered in tough austerity. Milei, well before becoming president, called Francis "the representative of evil on Earth", though later apologized and has since met with him.

Some said Francis should have visited regardless of the political environment over the years.

Rogelio Pfirter, former ambassador to the Vatican from 2016 to 2019 and a student of Bergoglio at a Jesuit school in the Argentine province of Santa Fe, said Francis' vocation to boost inclusivity in the Church had led him to prioritize other things despite remaining "very Argentine".

Many would still have liked to welcome the Argentine pope to their land and remember him as Bergoglio, the son of Italian immigrants who lived modestly when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, a lifestyle he brought to the Vatican.