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A Vatican spokesman hit back today at accusations that newly elected Pope Francis is in any way to blame for the kidnappings of two Jesuit priests during Argentina's military dictatorship decades ago. Since his election Wednesday to become the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has been hailed as a compassionate new pontiff, but the spotlight Read more [...]

ARGENTINES reacted with euphoria to the news on March 13th that Jorge María Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, had been elected as the new pope. Hundreds of the city’s faithful gathered in its cathedral after the white smoke was released to celebrate, and local media filled their programming with elated commentary from celebrities. After Argentina tussled with the IMF, litigious creditors and the Falkland Islanders in the past month, the choice of Pope Francis was a much-needed Read more [...]

The term describes a violent, dark period in Argentina’s history, from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, when the ruling military junta was at war with its left-wing opponents. The right-wing military had seized control in 1976 after a period of instability, and decided to purge their enemies. As Shannon O’Neil, a Latin America expert at the Council on Foreign Relations puts it, the military’s thinking was this: “We’re going to get rid of the cancer that is in our society—i.e., the left Read more [...]

A Vatican spokesman hit back today at accusations that newly elected Pope Francis is in any way to blame for the kidnappings of two Jesuit priests during Argentina's military dictatorship decades ago. Since his election Wednesday to become the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has been hailed as a compassionate new pontiff, but the spotlight Read more [...]

Commentary By Carlos Gamerro Getty Images Jorge Mario Bergoglio pays his bill at the Casa del Clero residence after being named Pope Francis on March 14, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. Like many people in Argentina, I received the election of the new pope with mixed feelings. On the one hand there is a certain pride Read more [...]

After his election to the papacy on Wednesday, Francis has faced intense scrutiny for his role in the arrest of two young Jesuits, Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics, who were detained for months in a notorious torture center.Bergoglio, the first pope to hail from Latin America, was the top-ranking Jesuit in Argentina in the 1970s during the nation’s “Dirty War.”At a press conference on Friday, the Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said there has never been “a concrete Read more [...]

About 90 percent of Argentines are Catholic, but many remain traumatized by their church's connection to the "Dirty War."Faithful kneel in prayer at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires, Argentina on March 14. Latin Americans reacted with joy on Wednesday at news that Pope Francis, Argentina's former cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had become the first pope ever from the Americas.(Photo: Natacha Pisarenko, AP)WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- American Catholics may believe that their community is divided Read more [...]

The streets of Buenos Aires, where Francis, formerly Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was archbishop until Wednesday, captured the sense of ambivalence over the first Argentine to be named to head the Vatican. Thousands flooded into parts of the city, snarling traffic and bellowing into loudspeakers — not to champion their new pope but to protest for increases in salaries and antipoverty benefits in a country with galloping inflation. At the Metropolitan Cathedral here, a steady but far Read more [...]

FALKLAND Islanders yesterday told the new Argentinian Pope to keep his nose out of their business. They spoke after Argentina’s president Cristina Kirchner called in a TV broadcast for Pope Francis I to “carry the message to the great world powers that they participate in dialogue”. She was careful not to name the Falklands. But her country’s press was quick to link her words with her obsession over the islands — which have just overwhelmingly voted to stay British in a referendum. Read more [...]