He's acknowledged that he made "hundreds of errors" when he directed Argentina's Jesuit Order in the mid-1970s, in the lead up to the country's Dirty War. “In some way many of us Argentines ended up being accomplices,” at a time when anyone who spoke out could be targeted, Rubin recalled in an interview with The Associated Press just before the papal conclave. Try our free resource to “find Roman Catholic Churches near me” today! Who was Pope Francis before he became Pope? As few broadcasters have a permanent correspondent in Rome, ROME REPORTS is geared to inform the public and meet the needs of television broadcasting companies around the world through daily news packages, weekly newsprograms and documentaries. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. Bergoglio said he once passed his Argentine identity papers to a wanted man with a similar appearance, enabling him to escape over the border to Brazil, and added that many times he sheltered people inside church properties before they were safely delivered into exile. And Pope Francis, then known as Father Jorge Bergoglio, had considerable standing. Despite this evidence in a case he was personally involved with, Bergoglio testified in 2010 that he didn’t know about any stolen babies until well after the dictatorship was over. "He regretted that.".

2019 © Catholic Mass Search - Search Catholic Churches and find Mass times while traveling. It’s without dispute that Jose Mario Bergoglio, like most other Argentines, failed to openly confront the 1976-1983 military junta while it was kidnapping and killing thousands of people in a “dirty war” to eliminate leftist opponents. Follow us… At that time two of the Jesuits in Bergoglio's order — his former philosophy and theology teachers — were determined to live and work among the poor in the capital's slums. Reporting on the Catholic Church requires proximity to the source, in-depth knowledge of the Institution, and a high standard of creativity and technical excellence. Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest news and event postings. Thank you. Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RomeReportsENG/.

© 2020 National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. “Fortunately, a while later they were freed, first because they couldn’t accuse them of anything, and second, because we moved like crazy people. : http://smarturl.it/RomeReports, Visit our website to learn more: http://www.romereports.com/en By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. He can’t be accused of that,” Perez Esquivel told Radio de la Red in Buenos Aires. Iran, Russia accused of 2020 US presidential election meddling; Hariri asked to form a government again; Poland court ruling on abortion law, For 4th time, Hariri is back as PM in crisis-hit Lebanon, New doc features the life of Iran's leading human rights lawyer, 545 migrant children still separated from families; Nigerian protesters break curfew; Nagorno-Karabakh beset by coronavirus, Watch live: High stakes for Trump, Biden heading into final debate. The priests were then kidnapped and tortured at the Navy Mechanics School, which the junta used as a clandestine prison. "There's a big difference between regretting not doing more and being part of wrongdoing.". This wonderfully unique feature assists you while traveling. Bergoglio said he had told the priests – Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics – to give up their slum work for their own safety, and they refused.

During that time, up to 30,000 people were kidnapped and killed. Our coverage never has been, and never will be, behind a paywall. peechlessness was followed by cheers of joy. There are prominent voices on both sides of the debate. “The dictatorship could not have operated this way without this key support,” she said. Donate today to support our freely available journalism. The Pope and Argentina's Dictatorship.

When you support The World’s fall fundraiser, you ensure we can continue this critical work. Rubin, a religious affairs writer for the Argentine newspaper Clarin, said Bergoglio actually took major risks to save so-called “subversives” during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, but never spoke about it publicly before his 2010 biography, “The Jesuit.”. Some were very progressive, and ended up killed. Jorge Mario Bergoglio (center) now known as Pope Francis visiting a Buenos Aires slum in 1998. "There is a sense that as with many other people during that time, probably they could have done more, but there's also the acknowledgement that he wasn't very high up in the hierarchy of the church," Smink says. Rubin says activists closely allied with the government of President Cristina Fernandez have “have tried to insert Bergoglio into some human rights trials, even when he truly shouldn’t be.”. Bergoglio also was accused of turning his back on the De la Cuadra family, which lost five relatives to state terror, including Estela’s sister Elena, who was five months’ pregnant before she was kidnapped and killed in 1977.

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RomeReportsENG When he eventually did testify in 2010, his answers were evasive, human rights attorney Myriam Bregman told the AP.

We encountered an issue signing you up. The next issue of Posted Newsletter will soon be in your inbox. Author Paul Vallely says Pope Francis argues that he made mistakes during that turbulent period because he'd been "put into the job too early. There was an error, please provide a valid email address. The new Rome Reports app is now available! Most Argentines agree that the Catholic church was complicit in military abuse during that era of dictatorship, in which up to 30,000 people, known as the disappeared, were kidnapped and presumed killed. “There were some who were in it up to their necks,” he said, citing Christian Federico von Wernich, who served as a police chaplain then and is now serving a life sentence for torture and kidnapping. The new Pope, Francis the Humble, as he perhaps would like to be known, is an Argentine with a cloudy past. Bergoglio twice invoked his right under Argentine law to refuse to appear in open court in trials involving torture and murder inside the feared Navy Mechanics School and the theft of babies from detainees. Bergoglio then assigned a monsignor to talk with police, who gave them a heartbreaking statement: The woman was a communist, and therefore doomed, but she had given birth in captivity to a girl. Back then, Pope Francis was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an opponent of Liberation Theology, a doctrine that embraced the poor and social change. Twitter https://twitter.com/romereports, You must be logged in to post a comment. Bergoglio’s own statements proved church officials knew from early on that the junta was torturing and killing its citizens even as the church publicly endorsed the dictators, she said.

St Alphonsus Liguori praised the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as the best way to Honor God. Both priests were eventually dropped off blindfolded in a field after a harrowing helicopter ride, two of the few detainees to have survived that prison. The World needs you. Pope Francis "locked horns" with two of his Jesuit mentors during Argentina's Dirty War. The self-effacement, admirers say, is why he has hardly ever denied one of the harshest allegations against him: That he was among church leaders who actively supported Argentina’s murderous dictatorship. "The military looked at this and said 'these men have been tossed aside by their own order and by the hierarchy of the church, they're obviously subversives,'" Vallely says. It showed a good disposition toward the military authorities, who, to make matters worse, considered themselves Christians and called themselves good Catholics.”. Election of Pope Francis stirs Argentina's 'dirty war' past, and role of church in deaths of thousands, tap here to see other videos from our team.

Donate today to support our free and trustworthy journalism. Pope Francis accused of being among church leaders who actively supported Argentina's murderous dictatorship. Please try again. But the new pope’s authorized biographer, Sergio Rubin, argues that this was a failure of the Roman Catholic Church in general, and that it’s unfair to label Bergoglio with the collective guilt that many Argentines of his generation still deal with.

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We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. “Perhaps he didn’t have the courage of other priests, but he never collaborated with the dictatorship,” Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who won the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize for documenting the junta’s atrocities, said Thursday. "But the bishops who stood up against the military ended up being killed in mysterious car crashes and other events.". Rubin said Bergoglio only reluctantly told him the rest of the story: that he had gone to extraordinary, behind-the-scenes lengths to save them. Truth about Pope Francis and Argentina’s military dictatorship News from Rome. The World needs you. Jorge Maria Bergoglio, appointed "Provincial" of the Order of Jesus in Argentina was one of the main supporters --within the Catholic hierarchy-- of Argentina's military dictatorship which came to power in March 1976. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Last spring, the pope ordered the Vatican to open its own archives on Argentina's Dirty War. 17 March 13 While much of Argentina celebrates the election of their countryman Jorge Mario Bergoglio as pope, others accuse him of having played a dubious role in Argentina's military dictatorship.

Pope Francis can do no wrong for many in the cheering crowds that lined the streets around the White House today. 0 views . Join the mailing list to receive daily email updates. Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. But it wasn’t until 2006, after then-President Nestor Kirchner declared an official day of mourning for Angelelli on the 30th anniversary of his death, that Bergoglio called him a “martyr” in the church’s first official recognition that the bishop was murdered. “I warned them to be very careful,” Bergoglio told Rubin. Bergoglio "locked horns" with the men, according to Vallely, and demanded that they return to the Jesuit headquarters. Some say he’s been more concerned about preserving the church’s image than providing evidence for Argentina’s many human rights trials. In one of the few interviews Bergoglio gave as an Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he expressed remorse for not doing more support the victims of abuse during the Dirty War. And why was he chosen to become Pope? Cardinal Bergoglio's accession as Pope has upset some in his home country Argentina who still suspect him of links to the last military government, Vladimir Hernandez of BBC Mundo writes. Other activists are angry over the positions Bergoglio, 76, has taken in recent years, as Argentina pursues investigations aimed at exposing those responsible for killing as many as 30,000 people, and finding traces of their victims. Be one of 1,000 donors to give $100 or pledge $8.33/month to receive an invite to a virtual party with Marco Werman and The World team! "He didn't stand up like some of the bishops did against the military," Vallely notes.

Visit our site map | Privacy Policy | About Us Page. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies and Privacy Policy. There was a lot of ill feeling in the Jesuits that he'd let these men down.".