Cloud of Dirty War hangs over Pope Francis

ARGENTINA
NEWS.com.au

POPE Francis has been criticised by some for his actions during Argentina’s “Dirty War.”

Many Argentines remain angry over the Catholic Church’s acknowledged failure to openly confront a right-wing dictatorship that was kidnapping and killing thousands of its citizens as it sought to eliminate “subversive elements” after a 1976 coup.

Under his leadership, Argentina’s bishops issued a collective apology in October 2012 for the church’s failures to protect its flock during the 1970s.

But the statement blamed the era’s violence in roughly equal measure on both the junta and its enemies.

That statement came far too late for some activists, who accused Jorge Bergoglio of being more concerned about the church’s image than about aiding human rights investigations in Argentina.

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