On February 26, 2013, he left Buenos Aires on an Alitalia flight bound for Rome, unaware that he would never return to his homeland—destiny had reserved a place for him in world history.
According to local media, a friend who delivered the newspaper to him every day asked if he should suspend the delivery. Bergoglio replied, “No, I’ll be back in a week.”
It is also said that he could have traveled in First Class on the Alitalia Boeing 777-200 that took him to Rome, as an acquaintance had offered to pay for it, but he declined and flew in Economy.
Since becoming Pope Francis on March 13, 2013, the closest he ever got to Argentina was 10,000 meters above it, and only twice: the first on July 10, 2015, when he flew over northern Argentina en route from Santa Cruz de la Sierra to Asunción, Paraguay, aboard an Airbus A330-200, registration EI-EJL; the second on January 15, 2018, aboard an Alitalia Boeing 777-200, registration EI-DBL, en route from Rome to Santiago de Chile, as part of a tour that also included Peru.
Although it is customary for the Pope to send telegrams to the countries he flies over as a gesture of diplomatic courtesy, in Francis' case—as the first non-European Pope in 12 centuries (and the first from the Americas)—these messages carried a deeper symbolic meaning for Argentinians, especially with expressions like “beloved Argentine homeland” or “the people of my homeland.”
These were the two telegrams sent during those flyovers:
To Cristina Fernández:
As I fly over the beloved Argentine homeland to begin my pastoral visit to Paraguay, I am pleased to send cordial greetings to Your Excellency, expressing my closeness and affection to this dear nation. I pray to the Lord for abundant blessings to help it advance in human and spiritual values, and strengthen its commitment to justice and peace.
—Francis
To Mauricio Macri:
“As I fly over Argentinian airspace, I extend to you my warm greetings and I send heartfelt best wishes to all the people of my homeland, assuring them of my closeness and blessing. I ask everyone, please, don’t forget to pray for me.”
As for the aircraft involved, EI-EJL (serial number 1283) was delivered to Alitalia directly from the factory in January 2012. It later became part of the fleet transferred to ITA Airways in October 2021, where it operated until October 2024, before joining Hi Fly Malta in February 2025 (in recent months it had been flying under a wet lease arrangement for Air Austral).
The Boeing 777-200 EI-DBL (serial number 32781) had been delivered to Alitalia in November 2002 and remained in its fleet until October 2021. It was subsequently stored by its owner (GECAS) and ultimately retired at the Roswell airport in the United States, where it has remained since December 2021.
AUTOR
Contando la aviación desde marzo del año 2000. Fundador y Managing Editor de Aviacionline.
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