After a swearing in ceremony at the National Congress, newly inaugurated President of Argentina Dr. Javier Milei participated in an interfaith ceremony at Buenos Aires Cathedral.
In what Evangélico Digital reported as an unusual event for a presidential inauguration, Milei, himself of Jewish background, and several of his cabinet ministers listened to short speeches and received prayers from several faith leaders.
Catholic Archbishop García Cuerva presided over the ceremony with Greek Archbishop Iosif Bosch, Anglican Bishop Brian Williams, ACIERA President and evangelical pastor Christian Hooft, Rabbi Shimon Axel Wahnish and representative of the Islamic community Shaykh Salim Delgado Dassum also speaking at the altar.
ACIERA, which stands for Christian Alliance of Evangelical Churches of the Argentine Republic, is the body representing evangelicals in Argentina, serving 415 members and more than 15,000 congregations across the country.
Pastor Hooft first expressed to the President the evangelical churches’ commitment to follow the biblical mandate and pray for him and his entire cabinet of ministers, and for the well-being of all Argentines.
He then prayed for forgiveness from God for having turned his back on him on many occasions and not upholding him as the First, the Sovereign and the Almighty. He expressed that Argentines would not accept the curse of poverty and instead prayed that it would again become the prosperous and blessed country it once was.
He continued by praying for the President, Vice President and ministers’ wisdom, temperance and prudence as they carry out the necessary changes and implement essential policies for the well-being of all the people.
“May you fill them with your Spirit, may you send your angels to protect them and free them from all evil, and may you give them strength from above, but also to all citizens, because today we have to be truly united, all together, no one outside,” he prayed.
Finally, he prayed for peace and dialogue that are essential for moving forward together and to say to violence: “never again.” He also prayed for hearts that would be sensitive to those in need, the weakest, the elderly, children and the unborn. “May we never lose the human dimension, may we never lack faith, solidarity and truth.”
The end of the prayer focused on hope in believing again, putting God first as the Source of all reason and justice, as the National Constitution says. “God tells you: Argentina, do not be afraid, get up,” Hooft said.
Although a number of evangelical candidates ran for various offices, ACIERA had not endorsed any party or presidential candidate as representative of evangelical churches during the heated election, according to earlier reporting by Evangelical Focus.
“Although they are members of our faith communities, the fact is that they do not represent the evangelical church as a whole, nor can they claim to be so representative,” ACIERA stressed at that time.
