Whispers of Vipers

I should not be surprised that within 48 hours of the nomination of Pope Francis I to lead the Roman Catholic Church that some think they have found dirt on the Pontiff.  Accusations of Bergoglio being a collaborator with the military junta in Argentina.

The first article is written by Heracio Verbitsky and posted online at Alternet.org, a site funded by the Tides Foundation and George Soros' Open Society Initiative.  The other article is posted online at Huffington Post and is based upon the reporting of another Argentinian journolist Olga Wornat.

Both articles share one accusation, that Bergoglio actively helped the military junta in the kidnapping of Jesuit priests.  Wornat claims to have concrete proof that he was a collaborator including from Jesuits, but does not name anyone.  Verbitsky does name the two Jesuits, in fact unlike Wornat who just says the Jesuits in question worked with the guerrillas, he does go into detail saying Bergoglio told the Jesuits to stop what they were doing when Peron fell from power but they persisted and were picked up by the new military government.  And Bergoglio tried to get them released and after six months of harsh imprisonment the two Jesuits were released.

Verbitsky however must be considered a very biased writer in this regard.  A hostile witness perhaps or the Bill Ayers of Argentina.  He freely admits to being a communist guerrilla and did participate in shootings and quips 'luckily no one died.'  He was also accused of being involved in a plot that resulted in the death of 21 people in 1976, charges against him were only dropped due to the statue of limitations.  Strange for a person living in a glass house to accuse another.

Wornat's critical thinking processes are a bit challenged.  She claims to be Bergoglio's intimate and knows what he is thinking due to a book she wrote.  Which must come as a surprise to the people who have read Bergoglio's books.  Perhaps Wornat is trying to puff up her credentials by lying to the Huffington Post writer?  Looking at her list of publications, Wornat seems more in line with Kitty Kelly - writing unauthorized and titillating books.  Her book on Christina de Kirchner on the other hand seems to be a paean to Mrs. Kirchner.

What is really odd about the interview is Wornat's attitude in the Storni case.  Storni was an Argentine archbishop who had fled the country to seek sanctuary in the Vatican due to molestation charges.  Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, sent Storni back to Argentina to face justice.  Wornat seems to have issue with the Church paying for Storni's lawyer, was she expecting the Church to be unfair and merely throw Storni to the wolves?  Deny him the due process that Verbitsky enjoyed?  What the whole story does highlight is how Rome treated the case most seriously and also of Bergoglio being a fair man.  Hardly the dark past Wornat alludes to.