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Veteran Catholic correspondent John Allen has delved into the background of Pope Francis as a bishop and cardinal in Argentina and clarified his record on such issues as liberation theology, sex abuse guidelines, civil unions and the former military dictatorship.
On the Pope’s record in Argentina, Allen says:
= Despite Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio’s reputation as an opponent of liberation theology during the 1970s, historian Roberto Bosca insists that wasn’t actually the case. He said Bergoglio accepted the premise of liberation theology, especially the option for the poor, but in a “nonideological” fashion.
= The Wall Street Journal reported that the bishops’ conference of Argentina failed to meet a Vatican-imposed deadline of May 2012 for submitting a formal set of policies on fighting child abuse, noting that Bergoglio is the former president of the conference.
But Allen says Bergoglio’s term as president ended in November 2011, and the bishops say the task was delayed until after a February 2012 summit on abuse in Rome, organised to give bishops’ conferences information on best practices.
= Though the director of the Argentinian Catholic Information Agency insisted that Bergoglio would “never” have favoured any legal recognition of same-sex unions, two senior officials of the bishops’ conference told Allen he supported civil unions.
= As for allegations that Bergoglio failed to oppose the “Dirty War” of the former military dictatorship, Allen was told there is no record of him being either a supporter or a critic of the regime.
“Bergoglio was not really a church authority back then,” said the historian Roberto Bosca. “He wasn’t a bishop yet in Buenos Aires, he was simply the regional superior of a religious order. The nature of his job didn’t lend itself to taking positions for or against the government, and my impression is that during that period was simply trying to do his job.”
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Image: Voice of America
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