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You still haven't got a prayer, Mrs Kirchner: Argentina's President flies into Rome to ask compatriot Pope Francis to intervene in Falklands row
- Request came at Pope Francis' first meeting with head of state yesterday
- He and Cristina Kirchner have history of spats over her liberal policies
- Also arriving in Rome was Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, 89
- World leaders arriving for today's formal installation Mass of new Pope
PUBLISHED:10:47 EST, 18 March 2013| UPDATED:19:01 EST, 18 March 2013
The new Pope's diplomatic skills were put to the test yesterday as he met his old foe, Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner and she asked him to intervene over the Falkland Islands.
The Argentinian leader seized her chance during a lunchtime meeting with Pope Francis I, who is South America's first Pope, at his temporary home on the edge of the Vatican gardens.
Ms Kirchner, who has a long history of disputes with the Pope over her her socially liberal policies, met the Pope at the Vatican hotel a day before his formal installation Mass as Pope.
The Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner and Pope Francis I have been at odds before, most notably over the issue of gay marriage
After the three-hour meeting - the new Pope's first with a head of state - Ms Kircnher told reporters: 'I asked for his intervention on the question of the Malvinas.
'I asked for his intervention to avoid problems that could emerge from the militarisation of Great Britain in the south Atlantic.
'We want a dialogue and that's why we asked the Pope to intervene so that the dialogue is successful.'
Earlier this month, the islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain a British Overseas Territory. It is now known how the Pope responded to Ms Kirchner, but before he was Pope he has been quoted as saying that Britain had 'usurped' the islands from Argentina.
Ms Kirchner also presented the Pope with a mate gourd - a sort of traditional tea urn - and a straw, from which he could drink his favourite Argentinian tea.
Afterwards the Argentinian leader said the Pope had kissed her to thank her for the gift form his native country, saying: 'Never in my life has a Pope kissed me'.
After the Pope thanked Ms Kirchner for her presents, she exclaimed 'Never in my life has a Pope kissed me'
A gift from home: Ms Kirchner presented the Pope with a traditional mate gourd and straw to drink tea from
Today world leaders will gather in Rome to attend his installation Mass in St Peter's Square, among them Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, a practising Catholic.
Banned from travelling in Europe in protests at the human rights record in his southern African nation, the 89-year-old is exempted for trips to the Vatican.
In 2005, Mugabe joined world leaders at the funeral of Pope John II.
US vice president Joe Biden has also flown to Rome for the Mass, where he will represent the American delegation. Yesterday he was photographed reviewing the guard of honour at the Palazzo Chigi with the outgoing Italian Prime Minister, Mario Monti.
After yesterday's meeting between Francis I and Ms Kirchner, the two Argentinians had lunch together - a meal that might have been awkward, given their long history of disagreements.
The feisty Argentinian premier arrived bearing gifts for the Pope, before asking for his help over the Falklands
The 76-year-old Pontiff, who was born in Buenos Aires, has previously clashed with the Argentinian premier over her socially liberal policies and with what he has called her government's 'totalitarianism'.
Ms Kirchner and her predecessor and late husband, Nestor Kirchner, defied church teaching to push through sex education in schools, free contraception, and the right for transsexuals to change their official identities.
In 2010 Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalise gay marriage, when the now-Pope was then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. According to his biographer, he knew the church wouldn't win a fight against it, so he urged his bishops to lobby for gay civil unions instead.
Seized her chance: The Argentinian President asked the Pope for help on the eve of his inauguration Mass in Rome
Cristina Kirchner, left, with the Pope, and US vice president Joe Biden, on the left with Italian PM Mario Monti
But when the bishops shot down his proposal, the Cardinal declared what gay activists called a 'war of God' on the measure, and the church lost the issue altogether.
The chilly relations between the pair became apparent a few years ago when Ms Kirchner and her late husband stopped attending the church's annual Te Deum address challenging society to do better.
In last year's address, Bergoglio said Argentina was being harmed by demagoguery, totalitarianism, corruption and efforts to secure unlimited power: a strong message to a country whose president has ruled by decree and left scandals unpunished.
Souvenir makers have been busy as more than a million visitors are expected to see the new Pope in Rome
More recently, a degree of silence was noted on Ms Kirchner's normally-chatty Twitter account when the Argentinian was elected Pope last week.
She posted just one Tweet all day, saying 'To your Holiness Francis I' and linking to her letter of congratulations, which wasn't even signed.
Vatican-watchers said the choice of venue for yesterday's meeting was unusual, given Francis has technically taken possession of the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace, where such formal audiences are usually held.
However he has conducted all of his audiences in the hotel to date, including with one with the Vatican secretary of state.
Rows of chairs have been laid out ahead of tomorrow's Mass where Pope Francis I will be formally installed as leader of the Roman Catholic church
The Vatican said it planned no statement, describing the meeting as private and informal.
The meeting with Ms Kirchner is just a warm-up for the new Pope, given the number of world heads descending on Rome for his installation Mass today.
More than 120 official delegations will witness Francis I's formal installation as the 266th leader of the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church.
Italian media say Rome civil protection authorities are expecting more than a million people to attend the Mass, numbers not seen since the beatification of Pope John Paul II in 2011 which drew 1.5 million to St. Peter's and the surrounding streets.
One significant VIP is the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
The new Pope's low-key style has been evident from the start: Here he waded into the crowd to meet people
His presence at the installation is the first from the Istanbud-based Patriarchate since the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches split in the Great Schism nearly 1,000 years ago.
Also arriving in Rome yesterday was Taiwanese President President Ma Ying-jeou, in what is a rare European foray for the head of the diplomatically isolated island that underscores the tricky nature of its relations with China and the Vatican.
As he arrived in Italy he said: 'We want to have much better relations with the Vatican and I think we will.'
The Taiwanese President said the new Pope was a 'wonderful person', adding: 'I think he'll do a very good job.'
Taiwan has full diplomatic relations with only 23 countries, most of them in Latin America, Africa, and the south Pacific. Its only diplomatic ally in Europe is the Vatican, though even that tie remains tenuous.
The Vatican has long expressed a willingness to transfer its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, though it has made that conditional on China allowing its Catholics to worship freely, without Communist Party restrictions.
China has congratulated the new pope on his election, but said that establishing formal relations would depend on the Vatican cutting ties with Taipei and ceasing activities Beijing considers interference in its internal affairs.
RECEPTIONIST: 'YOU'RE THE NEW POPE?' 'OH YES, AND I'M NAPOLEON'
Pope Francis' informal style got the better of him when he telephoned a Vatican receptionist directly and was told: 'And I'm Napoleon.'
The new pope, according to Croatian religious website Bitno.net, had announced himself when he called a Jesuit residence in Rome on Friday and got through to the switchboard.
He had been trying to contact Adolfo Nicolas, the superior general of the Pope's old Jesuit order.
But the baffled receptionist - identified only as Andreas - thought someone was playing a trick on him and quipped back: 'Oh yes? And I'm Napoleon.'
His holiness eventually got through, after managing to convince the receptionist he was genuine saying: 'I really am Pope Francis.'
One Vatican expert explained: 'You can't really blame the poor man. No other pope would have picked up a telephone to make their own calls. An official usually calls a secretary who places the call.
'The receptionist is extremely distraught but I think the new pope has a good sense of humour and will laugh it off,' they added.
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