Domínguez: 'Let the Pope pray for Malvinas'

Lower House head Julián Domínguez has called to pray to God for the Pope to be “an instrument” that helps build dialogue channels with the UK over the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands.

A Malvinas War veteran himself, Domínguez said the first image that crossed his mind when he echoed the news about Bergolglio’s election as Pope was “the Argentine flag in the South Atlantic territories” and confirmed that he will be attending the inauguration mass of Francis’ papacy. “I am going to go to pray for the Malvinas Islands and for Argentineans,” the Victory Front lawmaker said.

In statements to media, Domínguez considered a “gift of God” the fact that the first non-European pope in modern times was a Latin American pontiff and called to live this moment with “hope” and as a “unique opportunity.”

He also praised Bergoglio’s decision to name himself Francis –chosen after Saint Francis of Assisi-, as a “strong signal” of a “social thinking” that is aligned with the government’s social inclusion model that “focuses on the people and (puts) the state at the service of most vulnerable sectors.”