The Catholic Church in Argentina distanced itself from an appeal made by popular and poor priests against the radical and market liberal presidential candidate, Javier Milei.
The Episcopal Conference explained that the statements by Father José “Padre Pepe” di Paola were made “in a personal capacity” and, therefore, should not be understood as the position of the Church. The Church is not responsible for “telling its faithful who to vote for”. and “Who they shouldn’t vote for”, said the daily newspaper “Clarin”, citing religious circles.
The priest, known nationally as Padre Pepe, declared that “no religious person could be inclined to an activist and inhumane electoral proposal” like Milei’s. What Milei was proposing was “a setback in civilization.”
In Argentina, the successor to Peronist president Alberto Fernández will be decided in a second round on November 19th. He is no longer running due to low poll numbers and a lack of support from his own camp. Milei meets with the representative of the left-wing Peronist government, Sergio Massa, currently Minister of Economy and Finance.
(kna – gs)