GERMANY
Telegraph
Pope Francis pledged to fight for the release of a Jesuit priest kidnapped by Argentina’s military junta, according to a letter from 1976 which has been disclosed to a German newspaper.
By Jeevan Vasagar, Berlin
1:34PM GMT 18 Mar 2013
The Vatican has fought back against allegations that the new Pope, while a senior Jesuit priest in Argentina, was complicit in the kidnapping and torture of two colleagues, Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics, during the country’s “Dirty War”.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who was elected the first Latin American pope last Wednesday, is accused of withdrawing the church’s protection from the two men.
It has now emerged that Bergoglio wrote a letter to Father Jalics’ brother, in which he admitted that the two men had disagreements. However, he insisted that he “loved” Fr Jalics.
An extract from the letter said: “I have lobbied the government many times for your brother’s release. So far we have had no success. But I have not lost hope that your brother will soon be released.”
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