Judge denies accusations against Pope Francisco

Germán Castelli, Argentine judge and civil servant in the trial for the kidnapping and torture of two Jesuit priests in Argentina during the military dictatorship (1976-1983), asserted that the Court dismissed allegations that affirmed that the current Pope handed over both religious, because they were considered false.

According to Castelli, it is false to say that Bergoglio handed over those priests. “We analyze it, heard that version, saw the evidence and understood that his performance had no legal implication in these cases, if not, we would have reported it,” said the judge.

Federico Lombardi, spokesman for the Holy See, said last Friday that the Vatican believes there is a campaign against Bergoglio, but is ubsustantiatec cause is only based on slanders and defamations, referring to articles published by the Argentine newspaper La Nación, in which is questioned the role of Bergoglio during the military dictatorship.

Castelli joined in December 2011, with the judges Daniel Obligado and Ricardo Farías, the Court which ruled in the case of the kidnapping in 1976 of Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics, both Jesuit priests.

The judge considered that the role of Bergoglio in that case, who served as a witness, is not controversial, since there is already a last instance court judgement.

“We do not judge if Bergoglio might have been more or less brave. The question is if he handed over the priests or not. And we agree that there are reasons ti denounce him”Castelli said.

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Catholic and prize Nobel of peace 1980, released suspicion from the new Pope by saying, in statements to the BBC, that there were bishops who were accomplices of the dictatorship, but Bergoglio was not.