Bengt Malggren skriver om møtet i går mellom Pave Frans og tidligere pave Benedikt, men han skriver også om andre møter (og har satt sammen bildet over):
Påven har redan hunnit med många betydelsefulla möten. Jag skrev tidigare om mötet med patriark Bartholomaios. Nyligen mötte han också den argentinske mottagaren av Nobels fredspris Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. Prominenta personer som han och befrielseteologen Leonardo Boff liksom en av de jesuitpräster, Franz Jalics, han anklagas för att ha lämnat ut till militärjuntan i Argentina har hela tiden dementerat de envisa anklagelserna från som det trycks en liten grupp vänsteraktivister i Argentina som hävdar att påven gick juntans vägar. Ju mer man lyssnar på vittnen, ju mindre substans tycks finnas kvar i dessa anklagelser.
Pérez Esquivel intervjuades i Vatikanens tidning L´Osservatore Romano. Han säger bl.a:
”He [pope Franciskus] is above all a pastor. Even in Argentina, in spite of the his responsibilities as a Jesuit and then in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires and the bishops’ conference, he has always been a serene and shy man, constantly attentive to the problems of the country and especially of the people.
After his election a defamatory campaign began against the Pontiff which you immediately shut down. Who is afraid of Pope Francis?
It is true, some tried to do this. But since the accusations were completely unfounded I felt the need to to prove them wrong. Pope Francis did not have anything to do with the military dictatorship. And I am not the only one to say this. This is true according to the president of the Supreme Court of Justice in Argentina. There are no shadows in Bergoglio’s past. And in no way can anyone say that he was involved with the dictatorship. On the contrary he fought on behalf of the missing people and of the persecuted. However not all of his speeches were heard. The military said “yes” to everyone but they then did the contrary. I believe the defamatory campaign against Pope Francis was fueled by various political and ideological trends.”