Leo XIV’s arrival into Argentina put an end to the nearly 40 year period since the last time a pontiff had set foot in the country, but what should be made of his time there? Did he simply become a second Francis, or rather re-interpret and re-align the late pope’s legacy?
For the respected Argentinian academic and ecclesial commentator Dr. Rubén Peretó Rivas, the Pope’s visit tended to the latter. “Pope Leo is giving Francis’s pontificate a new meaning,” he suggested. “Slowly, too slowly for many, he is reinterpreting Pope Bergoglio’s expressions, teachings and even actions, and in so doing correcting them or bringing them back into clarity avoiding confusion.”
