Vatican rejects Argentina 'Dirty War' claims against pope

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican on Friday rejected claims that Pope Francis had failed to protect two priests who were kidnapped and tortured by Argentina's military junta, and said he had in fact helped save lives.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the first pope to hail from Latin America, has been criticised for his actions during Argentina's 1976-1983 "Dirty War", in which 30,000 people died or disappeared, when he was head of the country's Jesuits.

His role in the arrest of two Jesuit priests who were abducted and taken to a notorious torture centre by the brutal right-wing junta, has come under intense scrutiny.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said: "There has never been a credible, concrete accusation against him. The Argentinian justice system... has never charged him with anything."

He said the campaign against Bergoglio was "well known" but claimed it was defamatory and aimed at discrediting the Church.

"The accusations come from parts of the anti-clerical left to attack the Church and must be denied," said Lombardi, insisting that Bergoglio "did a lot to protect people during the dictatorship".

Horacio Verbitsky, a left-wing Argentine author and militant who has written extensively on the Dirty War, claims that he has found witnesses "who confirm Bergoglio's role in the military government's crackdown."

Bergoglio himself has denied any involvement in the priests' detention, and even says he intervened with the head of the junta, Jorge Videla, to plead for the two men to be freed.

They were released after five months. One of the two priests said on Friday he could take no position on Bergoglio's role in the events, and wished him "God's rich blessing for his
office".

Francisco Jalics, who now lives in Germany, said he had spoken to Bergoglio years after his release.

"Afterwards we celebrated mass publicly together and we embraced solemnly. I am reconciled with the events and, for my part, consider them finished," Jalics said in a statement.