​​Pope Francis, who has not returned to his home country since he left for the Vatican a decade ago, revealed that he is planning to visit Argentina in 2024.

“I always wanted to return,” Francis said in an interview with La Nación, published today.

If the visit takes place, he would travel a year after the general elections next October.

“Don’t link me to Argentine politics, please,” said the leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics.

The Vatican was not immediately available for comment.

Francis is the first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church. While he has not yet returned to Argentina, he has made multiple trips abroad, including Africa.

On March, Pope Francis gave an interview in Infobae where he said that he expected to visit Argentina “after the elections,” but that it depends on many factors: “first, the my will, which is present – secondly, the sociopolitical situation,” he added.

The Pope was meant to visit Argentina during a 2017 tour. The schedule was delayed by the elections in Chile, and he didn’t end up visiting his own country because Argentina was moved to happen in January, a rather quiet month. 

“But you can’t find anyone in January,” he said. 

-Herald/Reuters