Diplomatic skills tested during president’s visit

Pope Francis’s diplomatic skills were put to the test yesterday as he met with Argentine president Cristina Kirchner, with whom he has clashed over her socially liberal policies and what he has called the government’s strident displays of power.

Ms Kirchner also asked the former archbishop of Buenos Aires to intervene over the Falklands Islands.

The Vatican did not say if Pope Francis would accept her request. He has previously been quoted as saying that Britain “usurped” the islands.