Javier Milei, the new President of Argentina, was sworn in on Sunday 10 December, using the formula “for God and for the homeland, on these Holy Gospels”.

After the ceremony in the National Congress in Buenos Aires, he received the presidential sash and baton from the outgoing president, Alberto Fernández, who shook his hand and said a few brief words, after which he left the room. A large delegation of international representatives attended the ceremony, including King Felipe VI of Spain, and the presidents of Paraguay and Uruguay.

In his speech to a large crowd outside the building, Argentina’s new president alluded to the “uncomfortable truth” about the economic adjustment he plans to implement in what he described as a “critical and emergency situation”. Milei said there were no “alternatives” other than a strong economic “shock” which would mean sacrifices for the population in the next years.

Milei, who identifies as a Jew, mentioned the revolt of the Maccabees, which took place around 160 BC, as a “symbol of the triumph of the weak over the powerful”.

Faith ceremony with evangelical presence

The same day in the afternoon, the new President of Argentina attended an inter-religious ceremony in the Buenos Aires Cathedral, together with some of his cabinet officials. The unusual event for a presidential inauguration included short speeches by faith leaders.

It was presided over by the Catholic Archbishop García Cuerva. Other religious representatives attending were the Greek Archbishop, Iosif Bosch; the Anglican Bishop, Brian Williams; the representative of ACIERA (Christian Alliance of Evangelical Churches of Argentina) Pastor Christian Hooft; Rabbi Shimon Axel Wahnish; and Shaykh Salim Delgado Dassum, representative of the Islamic community. Each of them spoke at the altar and in front of the head of state, who sat alone.

The President of the Argentinian Evangelical Alliance (ACIERA), Christian Hooft, offered a heartfelt prayer to God. “Once again we find ourselves at a critical moment, a turning point, 40 years of uninterrupted democracy. We ask for your help. Mercy and mercy for Argentina. We do not accept the curse of poverty for our nation”, Hooft said.

He continued: “God, You gave us a country of abundance, but we have not been good stewards. We neglected the place you gave us among the nations. We pray that we may once again be that great and blessed country”.

The Argentinian Evangelical Alliance had earlier stated that “no political party can represent evangelical churches”.

“We pray for this new government. May it give them the wisdom, temperance and prudence necessary to carry out the changes, to implement the indispensable policies for the well-being of all our people”, the pastor said in the final part of the event.

The ACIERA representative asked God for “forgiveness, because we have taken you from the first place, you who are the sovereign” and prayed “to be able to return to that prosperous and blessed country”. He asked for “less inflation, decent wages, to strengthen the culture of work” and “to believe again”.

Archbishop García Cuerva cited three foundations for the future: fraternity, freedom, and the memory of the men and women who forged the country from its beginnings and who laid the foundations of the national organisation, such as “popular sovereignty, the representative system, the republican form, and federalism”.

Jewish Rabbi Wahnish quoted from the Psalms and asked Milei: “What is your wish, Mr President?” “To bring Argentina to its feet”, the President replied from his lectern. 2I am going to ask God to grant you something he has been asking for a long time. He asks for wisdom, temperance and courage”, the rabbi concluded, speaking directly to Milei, with whom he would later embrace for a long time.

During the afternoon, it emerged that Wahnish himself will be proposed to the Senate as the next ambassador to Israel.

New parliamentarians with an evangelical faith

Three days earlier, the 130 parliamentarians of the new Lower House of the Argentinian congress were sworn in. Among them was Nadia Márquez, a new national deputy for the province of Neuquén, who is a lawyer and evangelical pastor.

She is one of the five legislators who publicly speak about their evangelical faith, the highest number in the history of deputies of this denomination.

"Invocando la protección de Dios, fuente de toda razón y Justicia: sí a la vida" | La jura de la diputada electa Nadia Márquez en la Cámara de Diputados https://t.co/FGoLCsReyj pic.twitter.com/pdTswbEatQ

— TN - Todo Noticias (@todonoticias) December 7, 2023

When Nadia Márquez took her oath of office, she addressed her Christian faith and her defence of life. With a light blue handkerchief knotted around her right wrist, she said: “Invoking the protection of God, source of all reason and justice, yes, I swear. Yes to life”.

Nadia Márquez is leader of the Ibero-American Congress for Life and the Family (an evangelical movement in Latin America), and secretary of the Ibero-American Union of Christian Politicians (UIPC).