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Christianity Pope Francis: New Pontiff Is Jorge Bergoglio From Argentina, First Pope From The Americas

Jan 6, 2005
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Pope Francis: New pontiff is Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina, first pope from the Americas

http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/0...-from-argentina-first-pope-from-the-americas/


newpopefrancis.jpg
 

Tejwant Singh

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Let's be realists here and do not forget that he was part of the Junta- The Generals who were ruling Argentina at that time as dictators when many young men and some priests disappeared- Desaparecidos- forever. I was living in Brasil then and his name was linked in the newspapers as part of The Murderous Junta and nor was he in favour of the church workers who were against these atrocities.

I used to visit Argentina quite often, especially the Plaza de Mayo, a beautiful square which is surrounded by restaurants.

In fact four of the Generals got life sentences just yesterday for this and Padre Jorge became The Papa today. The irony of life.

The Catholic church did admit in 1992 for not doing much to help the Desaparecidos.

More on the Desaparecidos.
http://www.yendor.com/vanished/
http://www.desaparecidos.org/arg/eng.html
https://www.google.com/search?q=the...kI6iMyAHoy4HQCQ&ved=0CFoQsAQ&biw=1517&bih=714

When Argentina passed gay marriage and free contraceptives law last year, -whereas here in the US we are still in its foreplay mode-, Bishop Jorge said that it was, "a destructive attack on God's plan".

Normally, Jesuits are considered left leaning liberals who fight for social justice. Not Padre Jorge. He was too conservative for his Jesuit ilk that he was sent to no man's land in the Northern part of Argentina to teach Chemistry from where he was rescued by the late Pope John Paul II.

He even refused to baptise the children by single parents and ordered all to do so as the Bishop of Buenos Aires.

So, let's tread on this road which is paved with broken glass and the blood, sweat and tears of many Desaparecidos whose mothers went to The Plaza de Mayo with the pictures of their kids who will never return, every week in protest. They were outside the court yesterday doing the same.

More on "The Mothers of The Plaza de Mayo"- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers_of_the_Plaza_de_Mayo

If we have the wishful hope that any religion will "modernise" itself with time, in this case the Catholic Church, then we are just fooling ourselves. No House like this can have the refurbishment with the same foundations. However, the facades may change a bit with time.

Tejwant Singh.
 
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Tejwant Singh

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http://news.yahoo.com/holy-rivals-brazil-ponders-argentine-pope-005959802.html

TOLEDO, Brazil (AP) — Bitter rivals in soccer. The butt of one another's biting jokes. The samba versus the tango.
Brazil and its neighbor Argentina are bitter rivals in just about everything.
But now, in the realm of religion at least, Argentina has supremely passed the giant next door.
The Wednesday election of Pope Francis, formerly known as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, put the country a step ahead of Brazil when it comes to holy matters.
The dagger in Brazil's heart? The fact that for a week leading up to the conclave at the Vatican where the globe's cardinals gathered to choose the pontiff, Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer was touted as a front-runner.
Despite that, most Brazilians said that it was great the new pope was Latin American, even if — gulp! —he's coming from its biggest regional rival.
"We can't question such a decision, even if we have a strong rivalry between Brazil and Argentina," said Suelen Roos, a waitress at the Quincas cafe in Toledo, where Scherer was raised. "This isn't soccer, after all. We can't think like soccer hooligans, we must think like good Christians."
More Catholics live in Brazil than any other nation. The 124 million Catholics in Brazil is a figure three times larger than Argentina's entire population.
Scherer's brother Bruno, moments after the new pope was revealed to not be his brother, sat quietly by himself in a plaza behind the main church in the Scherer family's small hometown of Toledo in southern Brazil, just 95 kilometers (60 miles) from the Argentine border.
"I'm really just happy for the church that it's not another European," he said. "The fact that he's a Latin American is already a big step in the right direction."
In Sao Paulo, where Odilo Scherer serves as archbishop, his right-hand clergyman Edmar Peron, the auxiliary bishop, said the choice for the new pope was a surprise.
"I had never heard of him. I was not frustrated that Dom Odilo was not elected and I felt a certain tranquility when I learned that the new pope is an Argentine," he said. "Of course, Brazilian Catholics dreamed of having a pope who was born here."
 

Tejwant Singh

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/13/pope-francis-kidnapping_n_2870251.html

Pope Francis Kidnapping Controversy: Jorge Mario Bergoglio Accused Of Involvement In 1976 Abductions

The election of Pope Francis, previously Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has resurfaced a decades-old controversy surrounding the kidnappings of two Jesuit priests.

Bergoglio was a high-ranking official in the Society of Jesus of Argentina when a military junta was installed in the South American country in 1976. According to the Los Angeles Times, priests Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics were kidnapped in May of that year by the navy. "They surfaced five months later, drugged and seminude, in a field," the Times reported. A 2005 lawsuit accused Bergoglio of unspecified involvement in the abductions. Reuters explains that "the military government secretly jailed [Yorio and Jalics] for their work in poor neighborhoods."

A spokesman for Bergoglio called the claims "old slander."

Reuters has more details:

According to "The Silence," a book written by journalist Horacio Verbitsky, Bergoglio withdrew his order's protection of the two men after they refused to quit visiting the slums, which ultimately paved the way for their capture.
Verbitsky's book is based on statements by Orlando Yorio, one of the kidnapped Jesuits, before he died of natural causes in 2000. Both of the abducted clergymen survived five months of imprisonment.

"History condemns him. It shows him to be opposed to all innovation in the Church and above all, during the dictatorship, it shows he was very cozy with the military," Fortunato Mallimacci, the former dean of social sciences at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, once said.

Those who defend Bergoglio say there is no proof behind these claims and, on the contrary, they say the priest helped many dissidents escape during the military junta's rule.

Per the Associated Press, "Yorio accused Bergoglio of effectively handing them over to the death squads by declining to tell the regime that he endorsed their work. Jalics refused to discuss it after moving into seclusion in a German monastery." Bergoglio discussed the incident with Sergio Rubin, his authorized biographer.

More from AP:

Both men were freed after Bergoglio took extraordinary, behind-the-scenes action to save them – including persuading dictator Jorge Videla's family priest to call in sick so that he could say Mass in the junta leader's home, where he privately appealed for mercy. His intervention likely saved their lives, but Bergoglio never shared the details until Rubin interviewed him for the 2010 biography.
Bergoglio testified about the matter in 2010 after twice refusing to appear in open court, but "his answers were evasive, human rights attorney Myriam Bregman said."
 
Jan 6, 2005
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3,762
Metro-Vancouver, B.C., Canada
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Tejwant Singh

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I offer my personal congratulations, due respect & unconditional love to Pope Francis ( Jorge Mario Bergoglio )! I wish him success in the Divine mission he has been entrusted by his fellow Christians!

"Nanak Naam charhdi kala, tere bhane sarbatt da bhala."


FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

What is Ninda or Nindeya or Slander?

http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/essays-on-sikhism/33529-what-is-ninda-or-nindeya-slander.html


Soul Jyot ji,

Guru Fateh.

You write what we say every time at the end of the Ardaas.

"Nanak Naam charhdi kala, tere bhane sarbatt da bhala."

Are The Desaparecidos, their mothers and the children they left behind included in this or just The Pope who was instrumental in all this ?



Stating facts is neither Nindeya nor Slander. I am sure you are very well aware of that.

Gurbani urges us to do that as Truth Seekers. The proof is in Babarvani, SidhGohst and Asa di Vaar which Ambarsaria ji has taken the burden on his shoulders to make it easier for us to understand.

Are you against what Gurbani says?

Let's have a conversation. It is our duty as Sikhs.

Regards


Tejwant Singh
 

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