POPE FRANCIS AVOIDS VISITING ARGENTINA....AGAIN!

Much to the chagrin of many of his countrymen, Francis has not set foot in his homeland since his election in March 2013.

In contrast, Pope John Paul II visited his native Poland in 1979, less than a year after he became pontiff. His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, went to his homeland, Germany, during his first foreign trip in 2005.

But almost five years after Archbishop Jorge Cardinal Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires became the first Pope from Latin America, the decision by Pope Francis to steer clear from Argentina has left many faithful feeling perplexed and dejected.

The Pope has not spoken at length about why he has not visited Argentina, which analysts attribute at least in part to a reluctance to get swept up in the country’s polarized politics.

It is not that Francis has ignored South America, a region where the Roman Catholic Church’s influence has been waning steadily in recent years.

By the end of his coming trip, the Holy Father will have visited every country that borders Argentina, with the exception of Uruguay, plus three additional countries on the continent. He traveled to Brazil in 2013, Bolivia, Paraguay and Ecuador in 2015, Colombia last year and now Chile and Peru during a six-day trip that starts Monday.

Many in Argentina have interpreted the Pope’s apparent snub as a decision to avoid contact with President Mauricio Macri. Francis also had a tense relationship with former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her late husband and predecessor, Néstor Kirchner, while he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, often making thinly veiled criticisms about poverty and corruption. 

But while he may avoid any awkward encounters with leaders in Argentina, the coming trip will still put Pope Francis in some uncomfortable situations.

In Santiago, Francis is expected to face demonstrations for keeping Bishop Juan Barros as head of the Diocese of Osorno, 570 miles south of the capital, despite allegations he helped cover up a notorious case of clerical sexual abuse. The Holy Father appointed him in January 2015 even though he was part of the inner circle of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, whom the Vatican found guilty of sexual abuse in 2011.

Sex abuse scandals are among the reasons millions of Latin Americans have turned away from the Catholic Church in recent years. In prosperous nations, including Chile and Uruguay, societies have become increasingly secular. In countries in the region troubled by violence, stark inequality and entrenched poverty like Brazil, Evangelical Protestant denominations have cut deeply into the base of the Catholic Church.

The number of Chileans who described themselves as Catholic dropped from 74 percent in 1995 to 45 percent last year, according to a poll by Latinobarómetro.

In Argentina, local church authorities acknowledge that people are frustrated that Pope Francis has not come home, but they urge patience. Jorge Oesterheld, the spokesman for Argentina’s Bishops’ Conference, told a local radio station recently that the pope is “looking for the moment” to return home.