Priests working in slums in Argentina have issued a petition defending Pope Francis against what they call a “brutal campaign against him”.
The priests, together with a lay group, say there are attacks “of every kind” against the Pope, Crux reported.
Local media and political leaders have either tried to claim Francis as their own or discredit his every word, it is alleged.
An inter-religious alliance signed a petition “ratifying our commitment to the Pope’s intentions and our repudiation to the actions against him”.
One attack against Francis was launched by a former president of Uruguay, Julio Maria Sanguinetti.
Writing in Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper, Mr Sanguinetti praised the start of Francis’s pontificate.
His “colloquial and open style, his austere life and his generalised combating against the horror of clerical sexual abuse surrounded him with hope”.
He noted the Pope’s compassionate attitude towards women who have had an abortion.
Also noted was Francis’s call for priests to work in the slums, which “earned him applause of the liberal sectors of the Catholic world and gave him credit in public opinion”.
Yet, according to Mr Sanguinetti, the last three years have shown a Pontiff who fails to be “universal” by constantly meddling in Argentina’s political affairs.
The former president also described Francis’s economic vision as “anachronistic” and even “anarchist”.
He also criticised Francis’s outlook on refugees and migrants in Europe.
Italian blog Il Sismografo, considered a semi-official voice of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, has repeatedly complained about newspaper coverage in Argentina.
These media outlets “do everything in their power to outdo each other in the amplification of falsehood, hypotheses, suppositions and insinuations” regarding Francis.
The blog stated that newspapers report people who wrongly appoint themselves as papal spokespersons.
Sources
- Crux
- Image: Times Union