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March 28, 2013

Priest Denies Role of Pope Francis in His Imprisonment During Military Junta 
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A priest who was imprisoned for five months during Argentina’s
military dictatorship has issued a statement clearing Jorge Manuel
Bergoglio — now Pope Francis — of playing a role in his
arrest. Francisco Jalics was addressing reports Bergoglio had passed
along information about him and another Jesuit priest that led to their
detention and torture. He said, "I myself was once inclined to believe
that we were the victims of a denunciation." But he said, "At the end of
the '90s, after numerous conversations, it became clear to me that this
suspicion was unfounded. It is therefore wrong to assert that our
capture took place at the initiative of Father Bergoglio."

Jalics’ statement appears to contradict what he originally told
Argentine journalist Horatio Verbitsky. Verbitsky appeared recently on
Democracy Now! and said Jalics confirmed a report by the second priest,
Orlando Yorio, who is now dead, that Bergoglio was involved in their
imprisonment.

Horatio Verbitsky: "I talked with him, and he confirmed the story, but
he didn’t want to be mentioned in my piece, because he told me that he
preferred to not remember this sad part of his life and to pardon. And
he was for oblivion and pardon. That he was, during a lot of years, very
resented against Bergoglio, but that he had decided to forgot and
forget."

 

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