Vatican rejects accusations against Francisco

Pope Francisco

Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, in a formal statement, rejected the accusations against the newly appointed Pope Francisco, and described as “slanderous” the statement that says that the head of the Jesuits in Argentina, at that time, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope, did not do enough to protect the kidnapped and tortured priests during the dictatorship that ruled that country between 1976 and 1983.

According to a report of the AFP agency, the spokesman of the papal household, attributed the smear campaign against the new Holy Father, to a “publication which sometimes is libelous and defamatory”, referring to Argentine newspaper Pagina 12, which he accused of being “left -wing and anticlerical”.

It is important to mention that Bergolio has repeatedly denied the allegations and instead, he explained that he always plead for Father Francisco Jalics (Hungarian) and religious Orlando Yario, who were kidnapped by order of the dictatorship.