Pope Francis puts flowers on the altar inside St. Mary Major Basilica, 03/14/13. (photo: L'Osservatore Romano/AP)
Vatican Rejects Argentine Accusations Against Pope Francis
15 March 13
or the first time since the election of Pope Francis two days ago, the Vatican on Friday formally defended him from accusations that, decades ago, in the so-called Dirty War in his home country of Argentina, he knew about serious human rights abuses but failed to do enough to halt them.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman,
said there had "never been a credible accusation against him" relating
to the period in the 1970s when he was the superior of the Jesuit order
in Argentina.
Indeed, "there have been many declarations of how much
he did for many people to protect them from the military dictatorship,"
Father Lombardi said in a statement at a news conference.
"The accusations belong to the use of a
historical-social analysis of facts for many years by the anticlerical
left to attack the church and must be rejected decisively."
Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio
of Buenos Aires, was elected by fellow cardinals on Wednesday and much
of his behavior since then has seemed to indicate a shift of tone at the
Vatican to a more humble and frugal approach.
When he addressed cardinals on Friday, for instance,
he spoke frequently without notes, addressing them as "Brother
Cardinals" rather than as the more usual "Lord Cardinals" and the
Vatican press office highlighted other shows of modesty and lack of
formality since his election.
But the question of his past has never been far below
the surface, rekindling accusations relating to a conflict in which as
many as 30,000 people were disappeared, tortured or killed by the
dictatorship.
At the news conference on Friday, Father Lombardi
repeated assertions by a prominent human rights campaigner that there
had been "no compromise by Cardinal Bergoglio with the dictatorship."
The debate has simmered in Argentina, with journalists
there publishing articles and books that appear to contradict Cardinal
Bergoglio's account of his actions. These accounts draw not only on
documents from the period, but also on statements by priests and lay
workers who clashed with Cardinal Bergoglio.
After the church had denied for years any involvement
with the dictatorship, he testified in 2010 that he had met secretly
with Gen. Jorge Videla, the former head of the military junta, and Adm.
Emilio Massera, the commander of the navy, to ask for the release of two
kidnapped priests. The following year, prosecutors called him to the
witness stand to testify on the military junta's systematic kidnapping
of children, a subject he was also accused of knowing about but failing
to prevent.
In a long interview published by an Argentine
newspaper in 2010, Francis - then still a cardinal - said that he had
helped hide people being sought for arrest or disappearance by the
military because of their political views, had helped others leave
Argentina and had lobbied the country's military rulers directly for the
release and protection of others.
The renewed discussion of the case intruded into a day when Francis earlier offered warm praise on Friday to his predecessor, Benedict XVI,
saying that his nearly eight years as leader of the world's 1.2 billion
Roman Catholics had "lit a flame in the depths of our hearts."
Speaking to the church's cardinals, he urged them to persevere and find ways to spread word of their faith around the world.
"Let us not give in to pessimism, to that bitterness
that the devil offers us every day," he said. But he offered no direct
allusion to the myriad challenges facing the Vatican from a series of
sexual abuse, financial and other scandals that swamped much of
Benedict's papacy.
According to the officials, Francis frequently
extemporizes, making it more difficult for the papal press office to
deliver texts of addresses like Friday's.
"That's the cost of having such spontaneity," said Rev. Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman.
But there was one clearly unchoreographed moment.
Francis, 76, stumbled briefly as he greeted the dean of the College of
Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, but swiftly recovered.
The pope also sent a message on Friday to Rome's chief rabbi, saying he wished to pursue closer ties between Catholics and Jews.
"I hope very much to be able to contribute to the
progress in relations between Jews and Catholics" since the Second
Vatican Council in the early 1960s, the pope said in a message to the
rabbi, Riccardo di Segni.
Francis is the first non-European pope for over 1,200
years and the first from the Americas. In a further display of his
embrace of the poor, Vatican officials said on Friday that Francis had
urged bishops and the faithful in Argentina not to spend money on a long
journey to attend his formal inauguration next Tuesday but to make a
donation to the poor.
In his first audience with the cardinals, Francis told
them that Benedict's papacy and teachings had "enriched and
invigorated" the Catholic Church and had "lit a flame in the depths of
our hearts that will continue to burn because it is fueled by his
prayers that will support the church on its missionary path."
Vatican officials said the new pope planned at some
stage to visit Benedict at the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo
outside Rome, where he is living while an apartment is made ready for
him at the Vatican. In his retirement, Benedict has said, he plans to
live "hidden to the world."
Last month, Benedict became the first pope in six
centuries to resign, citing failing powers and old age and precipitating
a scramble for the succession in which Francis was not widely seen as
being among the front-runners. Sometimes speaking without notes, Francis
observed Friday that many of the cardinals were of advanced age, and he
told them: "Let us give this wisdom to young people; like good wine, it
becomes better with age. Let us give to young people the wisdom of
life."
After his remarks, Francis greeted the cardinals one
by one, shaking their hands and hugging some. He also accepted letters
and presents from them, including a yellow bracelet that he immediately
wore on his right wrist.
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