A look inside the Vatican

Pope Francis I

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on December the 17^th, 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentine. He was ordered as a Jesuit (making him the first Jesuit pope ever) on 1969 and moves on to study to Germany, returning to his country to be named bishop and later on Archbishop of the city of Buenos Aires. On the 2005 conclave he was very close to be chose as the successor of John Paul II. And on the last elections, people in Buenos Aires thought he would not be chosen as Pope because of his advanced age (76) so his election took the Argentineans by surprise. He was elected very fast, after five votings and in the 2nd day of conclave. The Vatican has said that he is in good health and is able to take the place. He is replacing Pope Benedict XVI who renounced last February 28th. So for the 1st time in history a Latin American Pope is leading the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis I, chose this name in honour of Francis of Assisi, the Catholic Saint, founder of the Franciscans order, who had probably been one of the most good and modest man's in history. So the new Pope is trying to encourage people to live a simpler life and is showing a sober and austere attitude by changing things in his life as Pope, as changing luxurious apartments for  simpler ones, or by wearing more modest clothes, changing the gold Pope's chair for one of wood or by traveling in a simpler car. He is trying to give a new message to the World, a message of humility. Due these acts, and his Jesuit simple motive,  the Pope is being recognized and liked by the people. His speeches in Argentina had an impact on society, now the Church hopes they have an impact all over the world.

He had being criticized because of his role during the dictatorship in Argentina when he led the Jesuits in his country. He had being blamed for giving to the military authorities two priests who were kidnapped and tortured. Like this it had been said, he had  links with the dictatorship in Argentina for what he had been criticized. A case of a stolen baby is being also trying to pull down his popularity; he is accused of not helping a mother to find her baby even though he had the resources to do it. The Vatican has denied Father Bergoglio was accomplice of military regime, and said he did silently protected several victims of dictatorship. 

The future of the Catholic Church is what matters. And thousands of Catholics are putting their hopes on Francis I, hopes for a better future of their Church. Pope Francis I is offering the world a message of simplicity and proximity. He calls Catholic's to service, to love the environment and especially to love God.

Sebastian Figari

VATILEAKS

“"VatiLeaks" come from the word “WikiLeaks”, a non-profit media organisation which intention is to offer important information and news to the public; providing an anonymous way for sources to leak information to their journalists”.

And Vatileaks are related to the Vatican. So, “Secret documents of Pope Benedict XVI had been exposed”.

January 2012 a scandal shook the world…

“Vatileaks put The Vatican in probably one of the worse situations ever.” The scandal came to light through an Italian TV programme named “The Untouchables”. Extremely confidential documents were stolen from the heart of the Vatican and memos that showed corruption inside The Holy See as an internal Vatican investigation supposedly uncovering the blackmailing of clerics that had organized gay homosexual parties emerged. More information appeared when an Italian journalist named Gianluigi Nuzzi published letters from Carlo Maria Viganò, who used to be the 2^nd ranked Vatican administrator to the Pope, in “which he begged not to be transferred for having exposed alleged corruption that cost the Holy See millions in higher contract prices”. On the next months more documents were leaked to Italian journalists, uncovering “power fights inside the Vatican over its efforts to show greater financial transparency and comply with international norms to fight money laundering”. Also at the beginning of year 2012, through an anonymous letter a complot to kill the Pope Benedict XVI was revealed. Things worsened when in May 2012 Gianluigi Nuzzi published a book entitled “His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI”. This book showed private letters and memos between Pope Benedict and his personal secretary. It described fights, intrigues, chaos and jealousy inside The Vatican and also revealed details about the Pope's personal finances.

Who was the main author of such audacity?

Paolo Gabriele, the Pope’s personal butler was suspected of leaking many private documents of Benedict XVI about supposed corruption acts inside the Holy See. And four boxes with copies of strictly confidential memos of the Pope were found in Gabriele’s apartment, so the 46 year old man was arrested and found guilty for illegal possessing of confidential documents. He was condemned in October 2012 to 18 months of prison in Vatican City cells and to pay legal expenses.

Pope Benedict XVI response

On May 30, during his General audience the Pope made his 1^st public commentaries on the “Vatileaks”.  He said things as, the "exaggerated" and "gratuitous" rumours had offered a false image of the Holy See. He also expressed support to his Vatican colleagues. He said, “the events of recent days about the Curia and my collaborators have brought sadness in my heart... I want to renew my trust in and encouragement of my closest collaborators and all those who every day, with loyalty and a spirit of sacrifice and in silence help me fulfil my ministry."

“Paolo Gabriele had been pardoned by Pope Benedict XVI”. On December 22, 2012. Gabriele received the personal visit of the Pope who gave him his pardon. 

But there is no doubt that Vatileaks had cause an irreparable harm to The Holy See...

Alonso Padilla

Close relation between Jorge Mario Bergoglio and General Videla

Pope Francis I, originally “Jorge Mario Bergoglio” was a 40 years-old Argentine priest, who was the head of Argentine´s Jesuit order during the years of terrible repression in his country, when “Dirty War” occurred after General Jorge Rafael Videla with his military dictatorship seized power in March 1976. He imposed a “strict reign of abuses and terror” until 1981.  This regime closed the National Congress, imposed strict press control and militarized the country. Around 30,000 people were disappeared, many were imprisoned in clandestine centres or others were unjustly murdered. Some prisoners were showed chained or naked, others were dropped out of airplanes over the River Plate or the Atlantic Ocean, were they drowned and their orphans were then sold. Also many pregnant women were disappeared and were kept alive until giving birth, and after killing them, their children were given to be raised by military families. Videla, with 87 years old is actually in prison, and for the rest of his life, condemend for crimes against humanity. 

And it is inevitable to ask… Which was the role of Father Bergoglio during these years as  head of the Jesuits? What did he do to stop the cruel repression, the tortures and murders mainly of poor people and activists with different interests, including priests and nuns? (Some priests and nuns were part of Liberation Theology a left political movement in the Catholic Church during the 1980s that encouraged priests to become politically active to combat social and economic injustice). What is known is that Bergoglio was one of those priests who do not spoke out against the regime in public. It is said that he “saw his role as maintaining his order and not picking sides”. But it is also said he did a silent labour defending several people oppressed by dictatorship.

One of the most controversial situations that implicate Argentine clerics of those years, involving also Father Bergoglio, is how they stayed impassive in front of the execution of priests or nuns. And there is the special case of two Jesuits. Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics that were released from their order for helping some residents of the slums that were considered Marxist´s. They and the two priests were also considered as terrorists. The priests tried to explain Bergoglio that they were not terrorists and he promised he would say the militaries so, but apparently what Yorio and Jalics said is that Bergoglio alleged false complaints against them and that´s why they were kidnapped by government forces on May 1976 and imprisoned for five months. They were tortured and later liberated. In 2005 a human rights lawyer filed a criminal complaint against Cardinal Bergoglio accusing him of "conspiring with the junta in the kidnapping of two left-leaning Jesuit priests". This accusation showed during the 2005 Papal conclave that chose Benedict XVI. Cardinal Bergoglio denounced the charge that was later dismissed by the court, as “old calumny.” The Vatican admits he had been interrogated for being aware of the incident but insisted that nothing was imputed to him and every accusation had been refuted with evidences. And what Father Bergoglio said in his defense during a trial of this case in 2010 is that he interceded for the survival and liberation of the priests, that he had a reunion with Videla and another with Emilio Massera, (2^nd man of the junta).

What Father Bergoglio did during those years had been interpreted in different ways. There are people that affirm that the Argentinean Church in general was accomplice in human right abuses during Videla´s regime. Some comments of shame had been said about how Bergoglio was proposed in the list of possible successors of John Paul II and then of Benedict XVI and ending in being elected as Pope. Some persons had questioned his conservatism and the fact of how he strongly opposes to abortion, to gay marriage and to the ordination of women, and why he did not opposed with such energy to the military regime during the Dirty War. He had been blamed of knowing about abuses and failing to do enough to stop horrible acts of dictatorship.  Bergoglio´s position during Videla's dictatorship has been considered as part of darker moments in Catholic history.

For others and mostly for Argentines in the Church, it was hard to be impartial, because opposing or not being openly sided to the regime meant being another of their victims. And there were clerics that openly joined and supported the junta, but there were many others that did not act in such bad way. Also the “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo” (active group of mothers of those disappeared) censured the silence of the Church during the military regime, but did not blame Pope Francis I for the disappearance of around 150 priests during those years. Many Catholics think that in case Pope Francis I did not act in the best way during military regime, he had been enough redeemed because of his good conduct as a modest Jesuit.

And the Vatican defends him affirming that Father Bergoglio did protect many persons during Dirty War and denies strongly any involvement of him with Videla´s government. And also remarks his act of promoting the Argentinean Catholic Church to ask for pardon for haven´t done enough during dictatorship. And it may good to remark what “Adolfo Pérez Esquivel” (Nobel Prize in 1980) said about this situation. He said, that during Argentine dictatorship Father Bergoglio did a “silent diplomacy” and interceded for the disappeared, the imprisoned and the poor and for the situation of Human Rights, but that the militaries had their own policies. That there were bishops that interceded for the priests, for common people and for the ones disappeared, but militaries did not listen. Esquivel also said that Bergoglio was not accomplice of repressors and that he neither was a pastor who was at the forefront in the fight against dictatorship, but that he did a silent diplomacy. He also held that during those years there were no diverse behaviors in Catholic Church, that what existed were “clerics accomplices with dictatorship, but not Father Bergoglio" and that there were some clerics that fought against the regime and the proof is that in Argentine there are in between the dictatorship martyrs, several priests and nuns. Esquivel affirmed that “it won´t be fair to generalize”.

Most Argentinean population is Catholic, and “why and how the Catholic Church in the country related with Videla´s government” will be an issue of debate maybe forever. A debate that revives strongly because this March 2013 for the 1^st time in history a Latin American, or more specific an Argentinean Cardinal that in a way or another related with the military regime of Videla  had been chosen as Pope.

Alonso Padilla

Jorge Bergoglio`s and his clash with the Argentinian government after his opposition to legalize gay marriage

The new Pope, Francis I, originally Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had expressed his opposition to gay marriage. So he had a controversial discussion with the actual Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez who supports this specific situation. An epic power discussion took place having the Argentinean Government vs. the Catholic Church. This confrontation was lead due to the decision of the Congress and the government of legalizing the gay marriage in the country. The upset of Bergoglio took place as it is  known Catholic policy to be totally against marriage between people of the same sex.

Bergoglio’s bother was shown with strong words when he claimed “The identity and survival of a family “father, mother and son”, is on the line if gay marriage is permitted. If adoption becomes legal for gay people, their kids’ life would also be on the line as they wouldn’t have the “human maturation” that God wanted with a father and a mother”. This declaration became a clash when the then Argentinean president Nestor Kirchner accused Bergoglio of “Putting pressing and trying to influence on the religious community for his own purposes”.

Ethics in this controversial problem...

From one side there is the fact that gay people should have exactly the same rights as straight people, and therefore are able to get married and with that a totally equal and inclusive society will exist. That’s what the government looked for to have everyone involved in their movements. The Argentinean government believes this is the most ethically correct point as there is no single discrimination in the whole society and everyone values are considered.

On the other hand we have Catholic Church policies which differ totally with Kirchner’s ideas as they just see a family with a mother (female) and a father (male). So an orthodox believer would always be against the idea of considering gay marriage as legal. But the only thing that Catholics, including Pope Francis I can do, is to raise their voices of complain and affirm the Church's position, because as a religious group  they cannot actually change the laws or governmental decisions. 

There are different positions to consider in front of this problem. Gay marriage may be considered unethical by some persons and ethical accepted by others. This is a controversial theme, so diverse opinions may be expressed. The support or rejection to gay marriage in Argentine depends in the individual believes and commitments of each citizen. 

Tito Vasquez