Argentine President Javier Milei celebrated the election of Pope Leo XIV on Thursday by sharing an image on social media, apparently generated by artificial intelligence, of a lion in papal regalia.
The lion is the symbol of Liberty Advances, Milei’s libertarian political party, and Milei often shares fan art online depicting himself as a lion — a reference to a slogan he often used on the campaign trail: “I did not come to guide lambs, I came to awaken lions.”
Milei shared the photo with the caption, “THE FORCES OF HEAVEN HAVE GIVEN THEIR VERDICT IN A VERY CLEAR AND RESOUNDING WAY. No more words, your honor. Fin.”
The image indicated that Milei took the election of a pope adopting the traditional name Leo as a sign of goodwill for his administration and libertarians generally. Milei also shared on his profile another image of Pope Leo XIV, known before his election as Cardinal Robert Prevost Martinez, that similarly suggested that his election bodes well for Milei’s political movement.
That image contained a caption reading, “In the Milei era, the new pope’s name is LION. We are predestined. LET’S GO ARGENTINA, DAMN IT!”
Pope Leo does not appear to have any ties to Argentina, unlike his predecessor, Pope Francis, with whom Milei had a tumultuous relationship. Originally from Chicago, Pope Leo is the first pope in the over 2,000-year history of the church to be born in the United States. Pope Leo is also the second pope of Hispanic descent after Francis; his mother, Mildred, was of Spanish descent. Prior to being elected bishop of Rome, Prevost served as the bishop of Chiclayo, a regional capital in Peru.
Javier Milei often shares artificial intelligence-created images appearing to show himself as a lion, in many cases to celebrate a special occasion. In November, for example, Milei shared an image of President Donald Trump embracing a lion in a suit as a symbol of his support and joy at Trump’s re-election.
As the new president of the pope’s native country — taking the baton from Milei — President Trump also issued a celebratory statement on Thursday.
“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope,” Trump wrote. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
Milei has described himself as being born and raised Catholic but is publicly a student of Judaism. The Catholic Church, whose first leader was the Apostle Peter, has deep cultural and religious ties to Judaism stemming from its founding by Jesus Christ.
“I’m Catholic but I practice a bit of Judaism,” he admitted in past interviews. Following several visits to Israel and stops at holy Jewish sites in the United States, Milei has claimed to seek to convert from Catholicism to Judaism, but has not done so as orthodox Judaism would require him to observe the Sabbath, which would impede his functions as president.
Prior to his election as president, Milei was one of the most vocal critics of Pope Francis in his home country, denouncing him as an alleged socialist and openly referring to him as an “imbecile.”
“Envy was a capital sin, it would be necessary to inform the imbecile who is in Rome [Pope Francis] and defends social justice to know that it is theft and that it goes against the commandments,” Milei said in 2020, “that envy, which is the basis of social justice, is a capital sin and an aberration.”
Milei continued by accusing Pope Francis of being “the representative of the evil one on Earth occupying the throne of the house of God.”
Following his election, the two exchanged some communications and Pope Francis, formerly the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, invited Milei to the Vatican. The two met in February 2024 and embraced at the Vatican, after which Milei told the press he had reconsidered some of his opinions on the head of the Catholic Church.
Following his passing in April, Milei declared a seven-day mourning period in Argentina.
“With profound pain I find out on this sad day that Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio, died today and is now resting in peace,” Milei said in an official statement. “Despite our differences that today are minor, being able to meet him in his graciousness and wisdom was a true honor for me.”
“As president, as an Argentine, and, fundamentally, as a man of faith, I say goodbye to the Holy Father and accompany all who find ourselves today with this sad news,” he concluded.
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