How Pope Francis Collaborated With Argentina’s Brutal Military Dictatorship

Is it really so difficult to find someone qualified to be pope who isn’t connected with mass murderers?

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Buenos Aires - As Pope Francis takes his place as the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, his participation in Argentina's US-backed 'Dirty War' is sure to come under increased scrutiny.

From 1976 until 1983, Argentina was governed by a series of US-backed military dictators who ruled with iron fists and crushed the regime's opponents, many of them students, trade unionists, journalists and leftists. Kidnapping, torture, murder by death squads and disappearances characterized this brutal 'Dirty War,' and many of the leading perpetrators, including two junta leaders and the military dictator Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri, were trained by the United States in kidnapping, torture, assassination and democracy suppression at the School of the Americas in Panama. As many as 30,000 people were killed or disappeared during this horrific period, and many children and babies were stolen from parents imprisoned in concentration camps or murdered by the regime.

During this harrowing period, the Argentine Catholic church was shamefully silent in the face of horrific atrocities. Argentine priests offered communion and support to the perpetrators of these crimes, even after the execution of two bishops, including Enrique Angelelli, and numerous priests. Worse, leading church figures were complicit in the regime's abuses. One priest, Father Christian von Wernich, was a former police chaplain later sentenced to life in prison for involvement in seven murders, 42 kidnappings and 31 cases of torture during the 'Dirty War.' At his trial, witnesses testified how the priest used his position to gain their trust before passing information to police, who tortured victims-- sometimes in von Wernich's presence-- and sometimes killed them.


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