Pope Francis has claimed the Argentine government wants to “cut off his head” for his actions during the country’s dictatorship.
What happened?
Francisco said he was questioned by members of Cristina Kirchner’s government about his relationship with two colleagues kidnapped by the military. “Fathers Ferenc Jálics and Orlando Yorio worked in a popular neighborhood. Jálics was my spiritual guide during my first two years as a theologian. There was a guerrilla cell in the neighborhood where he worked, but none of them had anything to do with them. They were pastors, not politicians.
According to the Pope, this interrogation lasted more than four hours. “They found nothing to charge them with, but they spent nine months in prison and endured threats and torture. They were released, but these things leave deep wounds.”
After the colleague’s release, rumors arose that it was Francisco who handed Jálics over to the military. “Jálics immediately came to me and we talked. I advised him to go to his mother’s house in the US. The situation was very confusing and uncertain. So the legend arose that it was I who handed him over for arrest.”
The Pope explained this in an interview with the Jesuit magazine La Civiltá Cattolica.