Although he never visited Argentina, Francis returned to South America when he visited Brazil in the first months of his papacy during his first overseas trip in July 2013. He visited four of the five nations that border Argentina – Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay.

Francis never gave an explicit answer for not returning as pontiff to his native country, but some experts say he worried about having his presence used for political purposes.

Bells tolled in churches in his native Argentina as news spread around the world after the announcement that Pope Francis had died at age 88.