Pope Francis’ Robes
April 7, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
The Catholic Church has a new pope. He’s being branded as the “fresh face” for a church in crisis. A fresh face, that is, for dark-ages (im)morality. The new pope, like the rest of the church hierarchy, demands women serve as forced baby-breeders. He is not only against abortion but all forms of birth control. And this “fresh face” on Catholicism calls gay marriage the work of the devil.
As the first pope from Latin America, Pope Francis calls himself and is being celebrated (by oppressors worldwide) as the protector of “the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest.”
Better said: this new pope is an apologist and a collaborator with the most brutal oppressors of the overwhelming majority of humanity, “especially the poorest, the weakest.”
For seven years, when the new pope—then called Jorge Mario Bergoglio—was the highest ranking Jesuit in Argentina, a brutal fascist military junta ruled the country. From 1976 to 1983, that regime waged “La Guerra Sucia” (the Dirty War)—unchecked and vicious state terrorism against suspected left-wing guerrillas, dissidents, trade unionists, students, journalists, and radicals. The junta kidnapped and murdered some 30,000 people. In true Catholic tradition of “not killing unborn children,” pregnant women who were kidnapped by this junta during this time were kept alive until their babies were born, then the mothers were murdered—sometimes thrown from airplanes—and the newborns were given to military officials and other supporters of the regime. This bloody terror served U.S. imperialist interests, along with other fascist regimes, in eliminating challenges to their power in Latin America.
This new pope could have spoken out against these crimes, but he turned his back on the masses under attack. Beyond shameful passive complicity, he publicly rubbed elbows with the junta’s main leader, General Videla. The Catholic Church played a critical role in that regime being seen as legitimate, and its ability to imprison and torture people, including dissident priests who committed the “crime” of serving the poor.
The Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, mothers of many of those disappeared, began protests in 1977 in front of the government palace, calling international attention to the lives that were being stolen. The murals of photos of the “disappeared” continue to be a massive indictment of the real history this new pope was complicit in.
This pope will forever be stained with the blood of these 30,000 people. These are his actual robes, and a major part of his qualifications as the new pope. He really is a fitting successor to this throne that Benedict just left.
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