Foreign relations Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

between

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, have existed for over a century. The former pope,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

, was the former

Archbishop of Buenos Aires The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Bonaerensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Argentina. It is a metropolitan archdiocese with 13 suffragan sees i ...

History

Argentina, which was a Spanish colony as part of the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ( or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was ...

, lost its relation with the

during the

Argentine War of Independence The Argentine War of Independence () was a secessionist civil war (until 1816) fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli, Martín Miguel de Güemes, Martin Miguel de Guemes and José de ...

. Both countries reestablished diplomatic relations on 17 April 1840, during the administration of

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confedera ...

. Argentina has an embassy to the Holy See, and the Holy See has an embassy in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

made two pastoral visits. The first was in June 1982 where he called for an end to the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

. The second was in April 1987 where he lectured on morality. Vatican officials, including Pope John Paul II and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Agostino Casaroli acted as mediators to help resolve Argentina's dispute with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

over the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I ...

. After the two countries almost went to war over the area in 1978, John Paul II became interested in resolving the dispute, which led to discussions between Chile and Argentina being mediated by the Vatican, and Argentine Foreign Minister

Dante Caputo Dante Caputo (25 November 1943 – 20 June 2018) was an Argentine academic, diplomat and politician, who served as the nation's foreign minister under President Raúl Alfonsín. Academic activity Dante Mario Antonio Caputo was born in Buenos ...

and Chilean Foreign Minister Jaime Del Valle issuing a joint statement of peace and friendship with the intent of developing a final treaty to resolve sovereignty in the channel. In early 2008, Argentine President

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and former politician who served as the 56th president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice ...

appointed Alberto Iribarne to be Argentina's ambassador to the Holy See. The Vatican refused to accept him as an ambassador because he was divorced. After ten months of poor relations between the two countries, during which Argentina refused to appoint a new candidate and the Vatican refused to accept Iribarne, Argentina conceded and appointed

Juan Pablo Cafiero Juan Pablo Cafiero (born 9 July 1953, San Isidro, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentine politician and the Argentine Ambassador to the Vatican since 2008. He has served as a National Deputy and government minister, and is the son of Peronist A ...

to the post, which the Vatican quickly ratified. In March 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, then-Archbishop of Buenos Aires was elected Pope and took the Papal name as

, becoming the first Pope from Argentina, the first Pope to come from the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, first Pope from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and the first from the Southern Hemisphere. In May 2021, Argentine President

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 to 2008. His tenure as Cabin ...

paid a visit to the Holy See and met with Pope Francis. In February 2024, President

Javier Milei Javier Gerardo Milei (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician and economist who has served as President of Argentina since 2023. Milei also served as a national deputy representing the City of Buenos Aires for the party La Libertad ...

paid a visit to the Vatican. In April 2025, President Milei attended the funeral for Pope Francis at the Vatican.

High-level visits

Presidential visits from Argentina to the Holy See * President

Arturo Frondizi Arturo Frondizi Ércoli (Paso de los Libres, October 28, 1908 – Buenos Aires, April 18, 1995) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, teacher, statesman, and politician. He was elected president of Argentina and governed from May ...

(1960) * President

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

(1973) * President

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (; 12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after the 7-yea ...

(1987) * President

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...

(1993, 1999) * President

Fernando de la Rúa Fernando de la Rúa (15 September 19379 July 2019) served as the President of Argentina from 1999 until his resignation in 2001. A member of the Radical Civic Union, he previously served as national senator for Buenos Aires across non-consecuti ...

(2001) * President

Néstor Kirchner Néstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoić (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007. A member of the Justicialist Party, he previously served as Governor of Sa ...

(2005) * President

(2009, 2013, 2014, 2015) * President

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...

(2016, 2018) * President

(2020, 2021) * President

(2024, 2025) Papal visits from the Holy See to Argentina *

(1982, 1987)

Gallery

File:Arturo Frondizi con Juan XXIII.jpg, President Arturo Frondizi with

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

at the Vatican; June 1960. File:Alfonsin y Juan Pablo II 1987.png, Pope John Paul II and President Raúl Alfonsín in Buenos Aires; April 1987. File:Cristina, Moyano y Benedicto.jpg, President Cristina Fernández and Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican; November 2009. File:Pope Francis with Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner 2.jpg, President Cristina Fernández and Pope Francis at the Vatican; March 2013. File:La Presidenta Cristina Fernández y el Papa Francisco.jpg, President Cristina Fernández and Pope Francis at the Vatican; June 2015. File:Mauricio Macri visit to Franciscus - 4.jpg, President Mauricio Macri and family and Pope Francis at the Vatican; October 2016.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Argentina has an embassy to the Holy See based in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. * Holy See has an Apostolic Nunciature in

.Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See in Buenos Aires
/ref> File:Embassy of Brazil and Argentina in the same frame (Italy) in 2021.02.jpg, Embassy of Argentina to the Holy See in Rome File:CABA - Recoleta - Nunciatura de la ciudad de Buenos Aires.jpg, Apostolic Nunciature in Buenos Aires

References

External links

Argentine Ministry of Foreign Relations and Cult: list of bilateral treaties with the Holy See (in Spanish only)

Argentine Ministry of Foreign Relations and Cult: direction of the Argentine embassy to the Holy See

Argentine Ministry of Foreign Relations and Cult: direction of the Holy See’s embassy in Buenos Aires
{{DEFAULTSORT:Argentina-Holy See relations