VATICAN CORNER
Pope Francis routinely praises the virtues of dialogue and building bridges, and he did just that by welcoming to the Vatican a figure from his native Argentina who has been not only one of his most vocal critics, but who once actually occupied his Buenos Aires cathedral and used the area behind the altar as a bathroom. The woman was Hebe de Bonafini , founder of the “Mothers of Plaza de Mayo,” a group dedicated to demanding justice for the “disappeared” during Argentina’s military regime in the 1970s. The military government abducted, tortured, and murdered left-wing militants, and anyone they claimed were “subversives,” including all political opponents. Many of the dissenters were young people, students and other youth trying to express their dissatisfactions. An estimated 15,000 to 30,000 people “disappeared” and the government destroyed any records that would help the families find the bodies. The government even stole babies from pregnant prisoners. Those who spoke out put their lives in danger. But in 1977 a group of mothers began to meet each Thursday in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires. They walked in non-violent demonstrations and chanted “We want our children” … The movement grew and eventually drew international attention. Human rights groups arrived to help. It became more difficult for the government to ignore the moral presence of the mothers. Over time there group was transformed to women wishing to change the government so that it reflected their values. Ms. Bonafini, the founder of the Mother’s lost two of her three children to government abduction. She is on the record of accusing Archbishop Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis of collaborating with Argentina’s military regime, calling him a “fascist” and asking “Where was God when they threw our children into the sea?” In 2008, the movement she leads occupied the Buenos Aires cathedral and “improvised” a bathroom behind the altar. On May 28, 2016, Ms. Bonafini called on Francis at his residence at the Vatican. The session lasted over an hour, one of the longest private audiences Francis has given since becoming Pope. In a press conference after her meeting she said she had asked for forgiveness because she and her group had “been mistaken” about Archbishop Bergoglio. Regarding the meeting with her, Pope Francis wrote to a friend “leave it at that, we all make mistakes. This lady, from the square (de Mayo), insulted me several time (in the past) with heavy artillery, but to a woman who had her children kidnapped, and who doesn’t know how or for how long they were tortured, when they were killed and where they were buried, I do not close the door. What I see there is the pain of a mother. If she uses me or not, it is not my problem. My problem would be not to treat her with the gentleness of a shepherd.”
Sources: cruxnow.com, womeninworldhistory.com