Pope Francis meets with Argentine President Javier Milei at the Vatican on Feb. 12, 2024. (Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

In Argentina, where Pope Francis was born, millions have been mourning his death.

That includes Argentine President Javier Milei, a far-right libertarian who during his 2023 campaign for president called Francis an “imbecile” for defending social justice, even equating him with the devil.

But as NPR noted, Milei “softened his tone” after the election, apologizing and even visiting Francis at the Vatican.

“It is with profound sorrow that I learned this sad morning that Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio, passed away today and is now resting in peace,” Milei wrote on X, referring to Francis by his birth name. “Despite differences that seem minor today, having been able to know him in his goodness and wisdom was a true honor for me. I bid farewell to the Holy Father and stand with all of us who are today dealing with this sad news.”

Elsewhere in Argentina, the statements of grief were unequivocal. In Francis’s hometown of Buenos Aires, Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva called him “the pope of everyone.”

“We’ve lost the father of us all, the father of all humanity, who insisted time and again that the Church must have room for everyone,” he said at the start of Monday’s service, according to a translation of the Buenos Aires Times.

The pope’s favorite soccer club, the San Lorenzo Saints of Buenos Aires, wrote “Goodbye, Holy Father” on its website.

“He was always one of us,” the club said on Instagram.