We’re only a few days into Pope Francis’ papacy, and already red flags are being raised, linking the Pope, and the role played by the Catholic Church in the brutal military dictatorship of Argentina. Both the Catholic Church and Pope Francis have been accused of complicit silence during the “dirty war” that was waged on the civilian population of Argentina from 1976 to 1983. Murders and abductions were carried out by the junta that ruled Argentina during that time.

For all the accusations, there is little evidence to back up the claims. Documents were destroyed before the fall of the junta, and many family and friends of the victims of the “dirty war” having since died. During the war it was difficult for surviving victims and their relations to speak out due to the risk of being labelled subversive.Priests and Bishops who did not keep quiet were often disappeared by the authorities.

In 2000, the Argentine Church made a public apology, with Argentina’s Episcopal Conference stating, “We want to confess before God everything we have done badly.”

During the sentencing of three former military men to life imprisonment in February 2013, the court noted that the Church had “closed its eyes” to the killing of progressive priests.

Jorger Bergoglio, or Pope Francis as he is known now, was the head of the Jesuit order from 1973 to 1979, and was a member of the order when the Catholic Church backed the military government in Argentina and called for its followers to be patriotic.

The main charge against Bergoglio is for the kidnapping of two Jesuit priests, Orland Yorio and Francisco Jalics. They were taken by the navy in 1976 and were held under inhumane conditions for their missionary work in Argentinian slums, which was a politically risky activity.

Bergoglio refused twice to testify before court about his role as head of the Jesuit order, and eventually when he appeared in court in 2012, lawyers accused him of being evasive.

Journalist, Horacio Verbitsky, author of the book “El Silenco” (The Silence), claimed that Bergoglio withdrew his order’s protection for the two priests, therefore giving the military the go ahead for their abduction. Verbitsky based his claims on conversations with Jalics.

Bergoglio said the claims were “slander” and said he behaved to the contrary, going behind the scenes to help the two priests. Bergoglio also claims to have given his identity papers to somebody who looked like him to help him flee the country.

In the eyes of some, he could be a hero. But Eduardo de la Serna, the “co-ordinator of a left wing group of priests who focus ob the plight of the poor” told radio del Plato:

Bergoglio is a man of power and he knows how position himself among powerful people. I still have many doubts about his role regarding the Jesuits who went missing under the dictatorship.

A theologian-in-residence at the University of Dayton said:

As archbishop, he faced a monumental task, and he was even accused of collaboration with the dirty war, which he strenuously denied and was ultimately cleared. If he can restore the credibility of the church there [in Argentina], he can handle the scandals that have befallen the church worldwide because he knows how to connect to the people.

This issue is unlikely to go away while high-profile trials are taking place. The “Last Dictator,” Reynaldo Bignone was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes relating to the disappearance of 23 people when he was in power in the 1980’s.

[Source: The Guardian]