Pope Francis, a controversial figure in Argentina

Impossible to box in a taxative definition, the Pope leaves a different church and a message that is projected to the future.

Pope Francis’s Tangled Relationship with Argentina

Graciela Mochkofsky writes on Pope Francis, born Jorge Bergoglio, his legacy in Argentina, and the nuances of his Peronism and his shifting politics.

In 2013 Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope. In Argentina the joy was not undivided. The Archbishop of Buenos Aires was controversial. For the citizens as well as for the Peronists.

Pope Francis, a controversial figure in Argentina

Readily outspoken in his sermons against neoliberalism and political cronyism, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who died on April 21 at the age of 28, was progressive on some issues and very conservative on others, at home in Argentina. His role during the military dictatorship was a matter of contention.

In December 1977, Esther Ballestrino was kidnapped in a church in Buenos Aires, a victim of the military dictatorship that prevailed in Argentina. She, one of the founders of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, was a close friend of a 16-year-old named Jorge Bergoglio, who years later would be the first pope of American origin. “I really owe a lot to that woman,” said Francisco, who recalled her friendship in his book “Hope.” Agencies / EL LIBERTA…

Luis Majul did not wait a day after the death of Pope Francis to operate politically, and in his LN+ editorial he titled “The Pope who was used”, to try to operate against the Supreme Pontiff who clearly thought very different from him. The shameful “reflection” of the ultra-official operator was made... The entry Majul’s miserable editorial: he stated that the Pope “let himself be used” by dictators and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo was first pu…