Vatican Rejects Argentine Accusations Against Pope Francis [View all]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/world/europe/pope-francis-praises-benedict-urges-cardinals-to-spread-gospel.html?_r=0

L'Osservatore Romano, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Pope Francis lead mass at the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican on Thursday.

By DANIEL J. WAKIN, ALAN COWELL and GAIA PIANIGIANI
Published: March 15, 2013 Comment

VATICAN CITY — — For the first time since the election of the Argentine Pope Francis two days ago, the Vatican on Friday formally defended his role in the so-called Dirty War in Argentina when critics have accused him of failing to do enough to halt abuses of which he had knowledge.
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Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said there had “never been a credible accusation against him” relating to the period in the 1970s when he was the superior of the Jesuit order in Argentina.

Indeed, “there have been many declarations of how much he did for many people to protect them from the military dictatorship,” Father Lombardi said in a statement at a news conference.

“The accusations belong to the use of a historical-social analysis of facts for many years by the anti-clerical left to attack the church and must be rejected decisively.”

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