Argentine President Javier Milei declared seven days of national mourning in Argentina and announced that he will travel to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis.
“We send our condolences to the Bergoglio family,” said Milei’s press release. “The president meets all those who profess the Catholic faith and recognize the Supreme Pontiff as a spiritual leader during this sad moment.”
Pope Francis has a flag of Argentina outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in Rio de Janeiro, on July 25, 2013.
Stefano Rellandini/Pool/AFP through Getty Images
Milei published in his personal account X, also: “With a deep sadness, I learned this sad morning that Pope Francis has died. Despite the differences that seem minor now, it was a real honor to have known him in his kindness and wisdom. As president, as an Argentine, and fundamentally, as a man of faith, I fired the Holy Father.”
The archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge García Cuervo also paid tribute, saying that Francisco was “the Pope of the poor and the marginalized.”
Francis’s football club, San Lorenzo, said goodbye to his special fan with a video of the Pontiff at the stadium. The San Lorenzo stadium is located in Flores, the neighborhood where Francis was born.
“He was not so fanatic, he was always one of us. A crow when he was a child and when he was a man … a crow as a priest and as a cardinal … and a crow like the Pope,” the football team published in X.
Argentine footballer Lionel Messi also said goodbye to Pope Francis on Instagram. Messi published a photo of him and the Pope, calling him “a different type of potato, one who felt closer to us, an Argentine.”
“Rip Pope Francis. Thank you for making the world a better place. We will miss you,” Messi added.
The Argentine Football Association canceled all games on Monday to cry the death of the Pope.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Aicha Elhammar
