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Habemus Papam Franciscum
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March 14, 2013
by John Hayworth
The First Plumbline
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Bishop of Buenos Aires since 1998, and former head of the Argentine Jesuit Order, has just been elected as the new Pope of the Catholic Church. He will be known as Pope Francis I.
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Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images[/caption]
Hopes are high within the Hierachy of the RCC that the election of Bishop Bergoglio will draw a line under decades of scandal that have dogged the RCC for decades. It is believed that the new Pope will bring about change, a new role for women and a greater concern for the poor which have been a feature of Bishop Bergoglio's own work in Buenos Aires, but also the work of the new Pope's own namesake St. Francis of Assissi. It is also hope that he will change the RCC's stance on contraception.
Argentina has not escaped the scandal of Priest abuse. In 2002 Argentina was rocked by the news of one of the country�??s most senior churchmen, Archbishop Edgardo Gabriel Storni, being implicated in the sexual abuse of minors which casused the Archbishop to resign. For decades there had been rumors circulating about the Archbishop and after the publication of a book by journalist Olga Warnot �??Nuestra Santa Madre�?� (our Holy Mother) these rumors became public knowledge. For those who read Spanish a copy of the entire book can be read at:
The Vatican investigated the rumors in 1994 however its findings had not been published. One elderly priest who criticized Storni was threatened with death by a group of curates from the Archbishops office if he did not recant his allegations.
It is quite obvious that the RCC, both in Argentina AND the Vatican, not only kept silent over the issue but gave protection to the Archbishop�??which implicates the then Pope John Paul II and the Bishops of Argentina also.
It is difficult to believe that Cardinal Bergoglio had no knowledge of the Storni affair!
For more information concerning the Scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church in Argentina see:
http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories3/091502_argentina.htm
http://ipsnews2.wpengine.com/2002/09/argentina-sex-scandal-triggers-archbishops-resignation/
There are also concerns over Pope Francis ´s own role during the years that Argentina was ruled over under its brutal Military Junta.
The Guardian newspaper reported:
As head of the Jesuit order from 1973 to 1979, Jorge Bergoglio �?? as the new pope was known until yesterday �?? was a member of the hierarachy during the period when the wider Catholic church backed the military government and called for their followers to be patriotic.
Bergoglio twice refused to testify in court about his role as head of the Jesuit order. When he eventually appeared in front of a judge in 2010, he was accused by lawyers of being evasive.
The main charge against Bergoglio involves the kidnapping of two Jesuit priests, Orland Yorio and Francisco Jalics, who were taken by Navy officers in May 1976 and held under inhumane conditions for the missionary work they conducted in the country�??s slums, a politically risky activity at the time.
His chief accuser is journalist Horacio Verbitsky, the author of a book on the church called �??El Silencio�?� (�??The Silence�?�), which claims that Bergoglio withdrew his order�??s protection from the two priests, effectively giving the military a green light for their abduction.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/14/pope-francis-argentina-military-junta
Will the new Pope make any real change in the RCC? Well the simple answer must be NO! The dogmas of the Institution that is the RCC will never be changed, they are considered essential for salvation and belief for all Roman Catholics around the world. The might be a few minor reforms and restructuring, a few minor concessions granted to the faithful but the core beliefs of this false church will remain intact. 