The Pope receives the Argentine vice president and asks her not to lose her sense of humor

Pope Francis received Argentina’s vice president, Victoria Villarruel, in a private audience at the Vatican on Monday, where he asked her not to lose her sense of humor, after responding with “still alive” when she asked him how he was.

Villarruel, who attended her first meeting with the pontiff dressed entirely in black and wearing a lace mantilla, was received by her compatriot Francis in the library of the papal apartment in the Second Lodge, where audiences are held.

“I’m still alive, and you, are you still alive?” the Pope replied to the vice president when she asked him how he was, after greeting each other affectionately with a kiss and shaking hands, according to the images released by the Holy See.

To which she replied: “Me too,” before expressing her “joy at seeing him standing,” since Francis did not use the wheelchair he usually uses due to his mobility problems.

Following the meeting between the two, there was a meeting with the Argentine delegation, which included the country’s ambassador to the Holy See, Luis Quinelli, who presented his credentials to the Pope on May 31, and an exchange of gifts took place.

The vice president presented Francis with a small sculpture of a horse related to the Argentine Pampas and a homemade nougat, while the pontiff donated her some of his latest writings, such as the Message of Peace and the “memories of a prayer that united the world” about the Pope’s prayer in times of the pandemic.

The first meeting between the Pope and the Argentine president’s number two, Javier Milei, comes after Francis’ recent criticism of the government’s repression of protests in the country.

During a meeting on September 20 at the Vatican to mark the 10th anniversary of the first World Meeting of Popular Movements to combat social exclusion, the Pope expressed his discontent with the recent repression by Argentine security forces against demonstrators protesting against the presidential veto of a pension reform.

“It is the opinion of Pope Francis, which we respect, we listen to and we even reflect on what the Pope says, but we do not have to share his vision on some issues. But the respect is total and absolute,” said the spokesman for the Argentine Presidency, Manuel Adorni, during one of his usual press conferences at the Casa Rosada, the seat of the Executive.