Vatican: Anti-clerical campaign against pope

[jsr]

Source: Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican is lashing out at "defamatory" and "anti-clerical left-wing" forces seeking to discredit Pope Francis over his actions during Argentina's 1976-1983 military junta.

The Vatican says no credible accusation had ever stuck against the new pope.

While the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio, like most other Argentines, failed to openly confront the murderous dictatorship, human rights activists differ on how much responsibility he personally deserves.

The Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi noted Friday that a Jesuit who was kidnapped during the dictatorship in a case that involved Bergoglio had issued a statement saying the two had reconciled.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_VATICAN_POPE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-03-15-09-07-00

[MNBrewer]

1. anti-clerical. Guess that describes me pretty well

[KansDem]

4. Me, too...

As far as I'm concerned, the Vatican lost all credibility with its boy-raping priests and Church officials, all the way up to the Pope, who covered it up...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. moi tres.

[warrant46]

22. Me quatrième

[dipsydoodle]

2. Vatican denies Dirty War allegations against Pope

The Vatican has denied that Pope Francis failed to speak out against human rights abuses during military rule in his native Argentina.

"There has never been a credible, concrete accusation against him," said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, adding he had never been charged.

The spokesman blamed the accusations on "anti-clerical left-wing elements that are used to attack the Church".

Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, led Argentina's Jesuits under the junta.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21802684

[Coyotl]

3. This is a good time to bring the world's attention to the human rights atrocities of Plan Condor

Hopefully, those involved can still be brought to justice before their deaths, especially the Americans who started/supported/coordinated the project like President Bush, Kissinger, et.al.

[unhappycamper]

5. Uuuuuh

From today's internets:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/14/new-jesuit-pope-fuels-conspiracy-theories-about-an-army-of-shadows/
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/14/victims-call-on-pope-francis-to-excise-cancer-of-sexual-abuse/
http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/17858-the-new-pope-and-argentina-s-dirty-war
http://www.paulbibeau.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-message-to-new-pope-from-oh-who-hell.html#.UUHNYlf77AJ
http://www.juancole.com/2013/03/brotherhood-equality-patriarchal.html
And my personal favorite: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/03/15/185852/commentary-six-ways-the-catholic.html

From yesterday's internets:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/14/questions-remain-over-pope-francis-i-role-during-argentinas-dictatorship/
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/13/new-pope-same-as-the-old-pope-lgbt-marriage-and-adoption-rights-damage-the-family/
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/13/iraqi-christians-wonder-if-their-days-are-numbered/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jan/04/argenitina-videla-bergoglio-repentance
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/13/pope-francis-kidnapping_n_2870251.html
http://www.juancole.com/2013/03/francis-heralds-emergence.html


Onward Christian Soldiers!

[sulphurdunn]

6. There must be priests

who are actually celibate and who live in poverty somewhere.

[loudsue]

7. All of which should make no difference as to whether one is actually a good person

or not.

[sulphurdunn]

12. I beg to differ.

No one forces these men to take vows of poverty and chastity before God. Violating such an oath has considerable bearing on whether or not one is a good person.

[loudsue]

13. I can't believe you don't see the problem with your reasoning.

No wonder the church is so mixed up.

[sulphurdunn]

16. Please be so kind

as to point out the problem with my reasoning.

[greiner3]

8. This is huge!!!!!!!!!!!

Once a pope is elected, ALL Catholics MUST recognize HIM as infallible; he is in direct communication and every thought, deed and utterance is to be followed, COMPLETELY!

So much for Benedict XVI's legacy.

I do not believe ANY claim of the ability to foresee the future.

However, I seem to remember one of Nostradamus' thingys' that predicted John Paul II's successor would be the last pope.

Does the modern resignation of a pope count as the pope's break that succession?

'Inquiring minds want to know.'

[onehandle]

10. Nostradamus is the well written version of reading chicken entrails. nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

15. who knew that chicken entrails involved bad poetry,

with unbelievably vague references that could be mangled to make any point you wanted to.

[24601]

21. You have not accurately stated Roman Catholic doctrine. The Pope is not infallible in

all things, but only when speaking/acting ex cathedra (translation - from the chair). All a real inquiring mind needed to do was look it up.

(No, I'm not Roman Catholic - nor do I jump on intolerance bandwagon trashing their faith)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_infallibility#Ex_cathedra

[Beacool]

17. That was not cardinal Bergoglio.

This is from the Clarin newspaper in Buenos Aires.

Disculpas de Michael Moore

El documentalista norteamericano Michael Moore retwitteó ayer una foto de un supuesto Jorge Bergoglio dando comunión a ex dictador Jorge Videla en los setenta (Ver tuis abajo en inglés). La foto la hicieron circular los twiteros kirchneristas durante toda la tarde de ayer para intentar descalificar al nuevo Papa. Ayer Moore tuvo que pedir disculpas a sus seguidores y dijo que Bergoglio era muy joven en esa época como para ser el obispo que le suministró la comunión a Videla.

http://www.clarin.com/mundo/Disculpas-Michael-Moore_0_883111727.html

It basically says that Michael Moore apologized for asserting that it was Bergoglio who gave Videla communion. That photo is from the 70s and Bergoglio was in his late 30s or early 40s (depending on the exact date of the pic). I actually read yesterday the name of the bishop who gave him communion, but I can't find it right now.

[Berlum]

14. "I did not have Dirty War with those infidels., I mean those people." - Pope Franny (R)

[Beacool]

18. Bergoglio did not collude with the military regime.

He went to great lengths to get Videla to free the two jesuit priests who the regime had kidnapped. He may be criticized for not being vocal about the junta's abuses, but he did not participate in them (as some other clerics did).

The 1980 Argentine recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, gave an interview yesterday to the BBC. The following is from the Buenos Aires Herald. Esquivel is an activist and a defender of human rights.

‘Bergoglio had no links with the dictatorship’

Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, assured today that elected pope Jorge Bergoglio "had no links with the dictatorship” that ruled Argentina between the years 1976-1983 as he’s been accused for many years.

Speaking to BBC News, Perez Esquivel said that “there were bishops who were accomplices of the dictatorship, but it was not the case of Bergoglio.”

“Bergoglio was questioned because it is said he did not do enough to get out of jail two priests, as he was the Superior of the Jesuits. But I know personally that many bishops called on the military junta for the release of prisoners and priests and these requests were not granted”, said Perez Esquivel.

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/126367/%E2%80%98bergoglio-had-no-links-with-the-dictatorship%E2%80%99-peace-nobel-prize-winner

[Heywood J]

19. Lashing out at left-wing forces?

I heard something about that once. Oh, yeah - Argentina in the '70s and '80s.

[Aristus]

20. "T'irthy-nine indictments, 'n' no convictions! Now let's play ka-raps!"

The enforcers are protecting the capo, as usual...

[RainDog]

23. What about Father von Wernich?

Last edited Fri Mar 15, 2013, 10:46 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jan/04/argenitina-videla-bergoglio-repentance

This was written in 2011, so it's not a "new pope" article.

The church authorities had spirited Father von Wernich out of the country and placed him in a parish in Chile under a false name, but he was eventually brought back to Argentina and put on trial. In 2007, he was found guilty on seven counts of complicity in homicide, more than 40 counts of kidnapping and more than 30 of torture, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Father von Wernich was allowed to continue to celebrate Mass in prison, and in 2010, a church official said that “at the appropriate time, von Wernich’s situation will have to be resolved in accordance with canonical law.” But Cardinal Bergoglio never issued a formal apology on behalf of the church, or commented directly on the case, and during his tenure the bishops’ conference was similarly silent.

ONLY AFTER Bergoglio left his position did the bishop's conference complain that the junta said they had participated in maintaining its power - but von Wernich most certainly did AND he was taken out of the country by members of the church hierarchy in order to shield him from prosecution for MURDER AND TORTURE.

So, Bergoglio, the archbishop, knew nothing about this, had no say in how von Wernich was treated? The treatment of the leftist vs. the fascist factions in Argentina seems to indicate where priorities came down.

This same church, that allowed a murderer and torturer to receive communion also issues decrees from the pulpit denying communion to those politicians who separate church from state in their political lives.

Again, you see that the church aligns itself with fascism again and again.