Papal mediation in the Beagle conflict

Soon after the event, Pope John Paul II offered to mediate and sent his personal envoy, Cardinal Antonio Samoré, to Buenos Aires.

On 9 January 1979, Chile and Argentina signed the Act of Montevideo formally requesting mediation by the Vatican and renouncing the use of force.

Then the Vatican crafted a six-year process that allowed the parties to grapple with increasingly difficult issues, including navigation rights, sovereignty over other islands in the Fuegian Archipelago, delimitation of the Straits of Magellan, and maritime boundaries south to Cape Horn and beyond.

By the beginning of November 1978, Chile and Argentina no longer had any mechanism for working toward a peaceful settlement and the situation began to destabilize rapidly.

On the morning of 22 December, Pope John Paul II, on his own initiative, contacted both governments directly to communicate that he was sending a personal envoy to Buenos Aires and Santiago.

On 21 January 1982, Argentina announced the withdrawal from the 1972 bilateral treaty providing for recourse to the International Court of Justice in case of disputes.

[9] After the papal proposal, negotiations remained stalled and meanwhile, a sequence of incidents in Chile and Argentina strained relations between the two countries.

[14] Pope John Paul II made an unscheduled visit to Buenos Aires on 14 June 1982, in an attempt to prevent further hostilities between Britain and Argentina.

[16] The Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina went a long way before enacted: The Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass crossing border was renamed to honour the special representative of Pope John Paul II.