SALON

Friday, Mar 15, 2013 9:54 PM UTC

Vatican denies Pope Francis stayed silent during “Dirty War”

A Church spokesman in Rome hit back at critics who allege the Pope did too little to save two priests in Argentina

By and

Topics: GlobalPost, Pope Francis I, Vatican, Dirty War, Catholic Church,

Vatican denies Pope Francis stayed silent during (Credit: AP/Gregorio Borgia)
This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.

Global Post

LIMA, Peru — The Vatican is hitting back at critics who have charged that Pope Francis didn’t do enough during Argentina’s Dirty War.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi called the accusations “defamatory” and told reporters today that they “must be clearly and firmly denied.”

Critics of Jorge Bergoglio, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, allege he failed to protect priests who challenged Argentina’s military dictatorship during the its Dirty War from 1976-1983.

They also claim he’s said too little about the complicity of the church during that time, according to Reuters.

Specifically, Bergoglio is accused of failing to protect two Jesuit priests who were later kidnapped and tortured by military officials in 1976, the Los Angeles Times reported.

One of those priests, Orlando Yorio, has since died.

The other issued a statement today saying the two had reconciled.

“It was only years later that we had the opportunity to talk with Fr Bergoglio … to discuss the events, Francisco Jalics said in the statement obtained by The Associated Press. ”Following that, we celebrated Mass publicly together and hugged solemnly.”

GlobalPost correspondent Simeon Tegel says the allegations appear serious.

“… particularly for someone, such as a priest, charged with moral leadership of the community. But it is notable that the priest that survived appears to have made his peace with Francis.”

The new pope’s official biographer, Sergio Rubin, also argued to BBC News that the Jesuit leader “took extraordinary, behind-the-scenes action” to save the men.

“Equally, there are other influential Argentines who resisted the junta, such as the Nobel peace prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who have backed Francis and said he has nothing to be ashamed of,” Tegel said, adding:

But given the moral standing of the pope, and how Argentine society remains traumatized by the disappearances and torture carried out by the military dictatorship, we should expect more such allegations and for this story to run and run.

Simeon Tegel contributed to this report from Lima.

More GlobalPost

More Sarah Wolfe.

More Simeon Tegel.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 21 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

Salon is proud to feature content from GlobalPost, an awarding-winning international news site that focuses on original reporting from journalists stationed around the world. GlobalPost combines traditional journalistic values with the power of new media to offer a fresh perspective on global developments.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
New Yorker launches tool by Aaron Swartz to protect leaks: Strongbox, co-created by the late technologist, is an open-source drop box for leaked documents
213 points214 points | 7 comments
vote
New Yorker launches tool by Aaron Swartz to protect leaks: Strongbox, co-created by the persecuted late technologist, is an open-source drop box for leaked documents
157 points158 points | comment
vote
Loaded terminology like "entitlements" and "welfare" skews the debate and alters America. How right-wingers use semantic tricks to kill government.
90 points91 points | 28 comments
vote
Obstruction will ruin the GOP: Playing politics and abusing the system can excite the extremes, but it's a recipe for long-term political disaster
47 points48 points | 8 comments
vote
With the help of Photoshop, artist Yao Lu has made shanshui — traditional ink paintings — of China's landfills
25 points26 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations