In a March interview with La Nacion, he explained that a trip to Argentina had been planned in 2017 but had to be canceled because of elections. The pope does not travel to a country in an election year in order to avoid the appearance of trying to influence the election.
“In other words, there is no refusal to go; it was planned,” he said.
“Later, what happened is that things got complicated in a different way; there were two years of a pandemic that led to trips that had to be made, even to places where one says ‘what was he there for,’ but he had to go,” he added. “So Argentina is still waiting. I want to go, I hope to go.”
The conversation with Morales Solá, published Sunday, marks the first time the pope has given a possible date for an Argentina trip.
According to Morales Solá, Pope Francis also revealed that he has asked Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Pope Benedict XVI’s personal secretary, to vacate his Vatican apartment in a few months.
The pope also said he has given the German archbishop the choice to remain in Italy or return to Germany, while noting that other private secretaries of popes returned to their native countries, such as the private secretary of St. John Paul II, Stanislaw Dziwisz.