Bergoglio og "Den skitne krigen" – del to

For nøyaktig seks måneder siden, dagen etter konklavet, satt jeg på Dagsnytt 18 og diskuterte den nyvalgte paven. Umiddelbart etter valget begynte media å snuse på Bergoglios rolle under «Den skitne krigen» - militærjuntaens styre i Argentina i 1976–1983.

Så også denne kvelden på NRK. Var katolikker redde for at han hadde lik i skapet? Samarbeidet han med juntaen?

I en kommende bok, Bergoglio's List: Those Saved by Pope Francis; Stories Never Told, avsløres det at Bergoglio i sin tid som provinsial for den argentinske jesuittprovinsen, ledet et hemmelig nettverk som skjulte dissidenter fra militærregimet.

Carol Glatz/CNS:

According to the various testimonies gathered together in the volume, the future pope made sure no one knew who was part of a clandestine network that sheltered or shuttled to safety dissidents, unionists, priests, students, intellectuals, Catholics and others.

"Each person would do one particular favor for (Father Bergoglio) the head of the Jesuits in Argentina: one who would let someone sleep over for one night, another who would give someone a ride, one would put in a good word to a European consulate worker" in getting someone out of the country, said the Vatican paper, L'Osservatore Romano, Sept. 7.

Ifølge den argentinske jesuitten fr. Juan Manuel Scannone var det først i etterkant at mange skjønte hva de hadde vært del av. Bergoglio opererte i det skjulte.

Priests and seminarians thought the frequent visitors they hosted were on spiritual retreat or getting help with their studies as then-Father-Bergoglio had suggested, he said.

Instead they were priests, seminarians or students "who had ended up in the crosshairs of the dictatorship" and, in the provincial college or other residences, could find safety from being kidnapped by police.

"It took us years to realize the complete truth about Father Jorge's rescue efforts," said the priest, who is the director of the institute of philosophy at the Jesuit university and seminary in San Miguel.

Hovedfokuset for seks måneder siden var de to jesuittpatrene som i 1976 ble kidnappet og torturert av regimet, angivelig fordi Bergoglio hadde sviktet og navngitt sine medbrødre.

Father Scannone, 81, who lived with the future pope during that period in San Miguel, said he saw firsthand the pope's efforts to help free the men.

"I can testify to the worry and commitment of the provincial Father (Bergoglio) in freeing both of them," he said.

"He told me what he was doing and the information he collected in order to discover who had kidnapped them and where they might be imprisoned," said the priest.

The future pope was able to gather enough information that would "pin the generals to a corner," and the two priests were eventually freed, Father Scannone said.

Father Bergoglio also helped them escape abroad afterward so they would not run the risk of falling victim to another tragedy, he said.

New book: Pope ran clandestine network to save suspected dissidents

Paven helt på jordet

Frans-feberen herjer både her og der.

I dag ble det kjent at den argentinske regissøren Alejandro Agresti skal lage film om Bergoglios liv. I hovedrollen finner vi landsmannen Rodrigo de la Serna, kjent blant annet for sin tolkning av Che Guevara i "Motorsykkeldagbøkene".

Men det er den italienske landskapskunstneren Dario Gambarin som skaper mest begeistring her i dag, med sitt kunstverk kalt "Love Liberates" – et 100 meter langt portrett av paven utført med traktoren som pensel.

Noen nordmenn med tilgang til traktor og et jorde som tar utfordringen?

Trappistnonner i Syria: – De forsøker å drepe håpet, men vi må holde det levende med all vår kraft

I 2005 ankom fem trappistnonner fra Valserena, Italia, den syriske byen Aleppo. Inspirert av de syv trappistbrødrene som ble drept i Algerie i 1996 – hvis historie fortelles i filmen "Om Guder og mennesker" – lever søstrene ut sitt kall i den lille maronittiske landsbyen Azeir, ved grensen til Libanon. Området består av shiaer, sunnier, alawitter og kristne.

På tross av farene forbundet med borgerkrigen, nekter søstrene å forlate klosteret.

Samtidig er Mr. Obama på krigsstien, og søker nå kongressens godkjenning for et angrep mot Syria. Men vil et symbolsk amerikansk bombetokt i det hele tatt gjøre noe for sivilbefolkningen?

I et sterkt brev til det internasjonale samfunn, uttrykker søstrene sin fortvilelse over situasjonen, henvender seg til Mr. Obama og spør: Vil fredsprisvinneren kaste sin krigsdom over oss? På tross av all rettferd, sunn fornuft, nåde, ydmykhet, all visdom?

Via Alessandra Nucci/CWR

Today we have no words, except those of the Psalms that the liturgical prayer puts onto our lips in these days:

Rebuke the Beast of the Reeds, that herd of bulls, that people of calves…oh God, scatter the people who delight in war…Yahweh has leaned down from the heights of his sanctuary, has looked down from heaven to earth to listen to the sighing of the captive, and set free those condemned to death…Listen, God, to my voice as I plead, protect my life from fear of the enemy; hide me from the league of the wicked, from the gang of evil-doers. They sharpen their tongues like a sword, aim their arrow of poisonous abuse…They support each other in their evil designs, they discuss how to lay their snares. “Who will see us?” they say. He will do that, he who penetrates human nature to its depths, the depths of the heart…Break into song for my God, to the tambourine, sing in honor of the Lord, to the cymbal, let psalm and canticle mingle for him, extol his name, invoke it…For the Lord is a God who breaks battle-lines! … Lord, you are great, you are glorious, wonderfully strong, unconquerable.

We look at the people around us, our day workers who are all here as if suspended, stunned: “They’ve decided to attack us.” Today we went to Tartous…we felt the anger, the helplessness, the inability to formulate a sense to all this: the people trying their best to work and to live normally. You see the farmers watering their land, parents buying notebooks for the schools that are about to begin, unknowing children asking for a toy or an ice cream…you see the poor, so many of them, trying to scrape together a few coins. The streets are full of the “inner” refugees of Syria, who have come from all over to the only area left that is still relatively liveable…. You see the beauty of these hills, the smile on people’s faces, the good-natured gaze of a boy who is about to join the army and gives us the two or three peanuts he has in his pocket as a token of “togetherness”…. And then you remember that they have decided to bomb us tomorrow. … Just like that. Because “it’s time to do something,” as it is worded in the statements of the important men, who will be sipping their tea tomorrow as they watch TV to see how effective their humanitarian intervention will be….

Will they make us breathe the toxic gases of the depots they hit, tomorrow, so as to punish us for the gases we have already breathed in?

The people are straining their eyes and ears in front of the television: all they’re waiting for is a word from Obama!

A word from Obama? Will the Nobel Peace Prize winner drop his sentence of war onto us? Despite all justice, all common sense, all mercy, all humility, all wisdom?

The Pope has spoken up, patriarchs and bishops have spoken up, numberless witnesses have spoken up, analysts and people of experience have spoken up, even the opponents of the regime have spoken up…. Yet here we all are, waiting for just one word from the great Obama? And if it weren’t him, it would be someone else. It isn’t he who is “the great one,” it is the Evil One who these days is really acting up.

The problem is that it has become too easy to pass lies off as noble gestures, to pass ruthless self-interest off as a search for justice, to pass the need to appear [strong] and to wield power off as a “moral responsibility not to look away…”

And despite all our globalizations and sources of information, it seems nothing can be verified. It seems that there is no such thing as a minimal scrap of truth … That is, they don’t want there to be any truth; while actually a truth does exist, and anyone honest would be able to find it, if they truly sought it out together, if they weren’t prevented by those who are in the service of other interests.

There is something wrong, and it is something very serious…because the consequences will be wrought on the lives of an entire population…it is in the blood that fills our streets, our eyes, our hearts.

Yet what use are words anymore? All has been destroyed: a nation destroyed, generations of young people exterminated, children growing up wielding weapons, women winding up alone and targeted by various types of violence…families, traditions, homes, religious buildings, monuments that tell and preserve history and therefore the roots of a people…all destroyed. …

As Christians we can at least offer all this up to the mercy of God, unite it to the blood of Christ, which carries out the redemption of the world in all those who suffer.

They are trying to kill hope, but we must hold on to it with all our might.

To those who truly have a heart for Syria (for mankind, for truth…) we ask for prayer…abounding, heartfelt, courageous prayer.

The Trappist nuns from Azeir, Syria
August 29, 2013 

Lørdag 7. september blir det holdt en internasjonal faste- og bønnedag for Syria og Midtøsten, etter initiativ fra pave Frans. Kveldsmessen kl. 18.00 i St. Olav domkirke i Oslo blir feiret for denne intensjonen, og det blir appell fra Syria-kjenneren Stein Mydske, tidligere generalsekretær i Bibelselskapet.

Det er bare å møte opp.

En koptisk krystallnatt

Den egyptiske hærens brutale framferd under oppløsningen av Morsi-leirene i Kairo onsdag, resulterte i fire dager med anti-kristen vold.

Sympatisører med Det muslimske brorskap og salafistene lot ikke sjangsen gå fra seg til å sparke nedover: I alt 58 kirker, klostre og skoler er blitt plyndret og brent siden onsdag.

Den koptisk-ortodokse patriarkatet bekreftet fredag sin "støtte til den egyptiske ordensmakt, militæret og alle sivile institusjoner i møtet med voldelige, bevæpnede organisasjoner og mørke ondsinnede krefter, interne og eksterne." Angrepene på kirker og regjeringsbygg "terroriserer både muslimske og koptiske borgere", heter det i uttalelsen.

Ødeleggelsene er store.

Sr. Manal, rektor ved den fransiskanske skolen i Bani Suef, 115 km sør for Kairo, spiste frokost med to medsøstre da nyheten om hærens inngripen mot Morsi-leirene kom. Så kom mobben.

Fra AP:

In an ordeal that lasted about six hours, she, sisters Abeer and Demiana and a handful of school employees saw a mob break into the school through the wall and windows, loot its contents, knock off the cross on the street gate and replace it with a black banner resembling the flag of al-Qaida.

By the time the Islamists ordered them out, fire was raging at every corner of the 115-year-old main building and two recent additions. Money saved for a new school was gone, said Manal, and every computer, projector, desk and chair was hauled away. Frantic SOS calls to the police, including senior officers with children at the school, produced promises of quick response but no one came.

The Islamists gave her just enough time to grab some clothes.

Sr. Manal forteller om fortvilelsen ved å være innesperret i skolebygningen som sto i brann i første etasje. Samtidig ble det utkjempet et gateslag utenfor mellom islamister og politiet. Skolen, sentralt beliggende ved byens togstasjon, har både muslimske og kristne elever. Senere ble søstrene og de ansatte ført gjennom gatene og mishandlet.

"We are nuns. We rely on God and the angels to protect us," she said. "At the end, they paraded us like prisoners of war and hurled abuse at us as they led us from one alley to another without telling us where they were taking us," she said. A Muslim woman who once taught at the school spotted Manal and the two other nuns as they walked past her home, attracting a crowd of curious onlookers.

"I remembered her, her name is Saadiyah. She offered to take us in and said she can protect us since her son-in-law was a policeman. We accepted her offer," she said. Two Christian women employed by the school, siblings Wardah and Bedour, had to fight their way out of the mob, while groped, hit and insulted by the extremists. "I looked at that and it was very nasty," said Manal. 

Følgende liste over angrep er bekreftet av pressekontoret for Den katolske kirke i Egypt. Det er sjokkerende lesning.

Catholic churches and convents

1. Franciscan church and school (road 23) - burned (Suez)
2. Monastery of the Holy Shepherd and hospital - burned (Suez)
3. Church of the Good Shepherd, Monastery of the Good Shepherd - burned in molotov attack (Asuit)
4. Coptic Catholic Church of St. George - burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
5. Church of the Jesuits - burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
6. Fatima Basilica - attacked - Heliopolis
7. Coptic Catholic Church of St. Mark - burned (Minya - Upper Egypt)
8. Franciscan convent (Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary) - burned (Beni Suef, Upper Egypt)
9. Church of St. Teresa - burned (Asuit, Upper Egypt)
10. Franciscan Church and School - burned (Asuit, Upper Egypt)
11. Convent of St Joseph and school - burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
12. Coptic Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart - torched (Minya, Upper Egypt)
13 Convent of the Sisters of Saint Mary - attacked (Cairo)
14. School of the Holy Shepherd - attacked (Minya, Upper Egypt)

Orthodox and Evangelical Churches

1. Anglican Church of St. Saviour - burned (Suez)
2. Evangelical Church of St Michael - surrounded and sacked (Asuit, Upper Egypt)
3. Coptic Orthodox Church of St. George - Burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
4. Church of Al-Esla - burned (Asuit, Upper Egypt)
5. Adventist Church - burned, the pastor and his wife abducted (Asuit, Upper Egypt)
6. Church of the Apostles - burned (Asuit, Upper Egypt)
7. Church of the Holy renewal - burned (Asuit, Upper Egypt)
8. Diocesan Centre Coptic Orthodox Qusiya - burned (Asuit, Upper Egypt)
9. Church of St. George - burned (Arish, North Egypt)
10. Church of St. George in al-Wasta - burned (Beni Suef, Upper Egypt)
11. Church of the Virgin Mary - attacked (Maadi, Cairo)
12. Church of the Virgin Mary - attacked (Mostorod, Cairo)
13. Coptic Orthodox Church of St. George - attacked (Helwan, Cairo)
14. Church of ​​St. Mary of El Naziah - burned (Fayoum, Upper Egypt)
15. Church of Santa Damiana - sacked and burned (Fayoum, Upper Egypt)
16. Church of St. Theodore - burned (Fayoum, Upper Egypt)
17. Evangelical Church of al-Zorby - Sacked and destroyed (Fayoum, Upper Egypt)
18. Church of St. Joseph - burned (Fayoum, Upper Egypt)
19. Franciscan School - burned (Fayoum, Upper Egypt)
20. Coptic Orthodox Diocesan Center of St. Paul - burned (Gharbiya, Delta)
21. Coptic Orthodox Church of St. Anthony - burned (Giza)
22. Coptic Church of St. George - burned (Atfeeh, Giza)
23. Church of the Virgin Mary and father Abraham - burned (Delga, Deir Mawas, Minya, Upper Egypt)
24. Church of St. Mina Abu Hilal Kebly - burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
25. Baptist Church in Beni Mazar - burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
26. Church of Amir Tawadros - burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
27. Evangelical Church - burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
28. Church of Anba Moussa al-Aswad- burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
29. Church of the Apostles - burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
30. Church of St Mary - arson attempt (Qena, Upper Egypt)
31. Coptic Church of St. George - burned (Sohag, Upper Egypt)
32. Church of Santa Damiana - Attacked and burned (Sohag, Upper Egypt)
33. Church of the Virgin Mary - burned (Sohag, Upper Egypt)
34. Church of St. Mark and community center - burned (Sohag, Upper Egypt)
35. Church of Anba Abram - destroyed and burned (Sohag, Upper Egypt)

Christian institutions

1. House of Fr. Angelos (pastor of the church of the Virgin Mary and Father Abraham) - burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
2. Properties and shops of Christians - Burnt (Arish, North Egypt)
3. 17 Christian homes attacked and looted (Minya, Upper Egypt)
4. Christian homes - Attach (Asuit, Upper Egypt)
5. Offices of the Evangelical Foundation - burned (Minya, Upper Egypt)
6. Stores, pharmacies, hotels owned by Christians - attacked and looted (Luxor, Upper Egypt)
7. Library of the Bible Society - burned (Cairo)
8. Bible Society - burned (Fayoum, Upper Egypt)
9. Bible Society- burned (Asuit, North Egypt).

Burned buildings owned by Christians

1. 58 houses.
2. 85 shops.
3. 16 pharmacies.
4.  3 hotels (Upper Egypt)
5.  75 buses and cars.

7 Victims (killed) 17 kidnapping and hundreds injured. 

Dekning av kristenforfølgelse pleier ikke å stå høyt på vestlige mediers agenda. Fredagens uttalelse fra det koptiske patriarkatet fordømmer interessant nok de "feilaktige påstandene formidlet av vestlige media", som oppfordres til en "objektiv granskning av fakta rundt disse morderiske radikale organisasjonene og dets støttespillere, fremfor å legitimere dem med global støtte og politisk beskyttelse – mens de forsøker å spre destruksjon og ødeleggelse i vårt kjære land".

Aftenpostens Midtøsten-korrespondent Kristin Solberg er blant dem som har tatt utfordringen, og hennes sterke reportasje fra Giza anbefales herved.

Og DER kom den hvite røyken...

Akersveien, onsdag 13. mars. Klokken er litt over syv om kvelden. Stemningen er avventende. Alt går etter planen.

Og så: Hvit røyk!

Man slipper alt man har i hendene. KAOS oppstår.

15 minutter senere befinner jeg meg på Marienlyst, med biografier til de "hotteste" kandidatene i hendene, skrevet ut i all hast. Dette var safe, keine problem — man kjenner da sine papabili.

Men i bunken manglet dog en: biografien til en viss kardinal Bergoglio fra Argentina.

(Som et apropos: Den italienske bispekonferansen skal — noe prematurt — ha sendt ut en gratulasjons-epost til kardinal Scola da den hvite røyken kom!)

Det var først senere på kvelden at jeg kunne se det komiske i situasjonen og glede meg over det hele. Den hellige ånd hadde spilt oss et puss — igjen.

Angående glede: Samme kveld er Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, godt i gang med innspillingen av sitt debutalbum for DeMontfort Music. Så skjer det noe...



Viva il Papa!

(via Creative minority report)