In the early twentieth century, Argentina attracted waves of immigrants as a land of opportunity. The country took a turn in the 1930’s and was hit hard by the world financial collapse and a series of economic hardships. The socioeconomic gap between the rich and poor as well as the plague of rising inflation became perennial issues. Politicians with radical ideologies often appealed to the voters in hopes for better days. Military leaders would intervene to topple radical leaders, bringing about juntas and dictatorships that then provoked guerrilla movements to try to overthrow dictators. The country also had the challenge of walking a fine line between the capitalist United States of America and the communist Soviet Union during the Cold War, trying not to anger either superpower.
Juan Perón, a military officer turned populist leader, was elected president in 1946 and brought progress on some fronts while also creating many enemies. He vastly expanded social programs for the poor while brutally silencing his opponents and committing human rights violations. His left-wing ideology was hard to pin down and simply became known as ‘Peronism.’ He was ousted by the military and exiled in 1955, settling in Spain. Eighteen years later, in 1973, the situation in Argentina had deteriorated such that Perón returned to be elected to a second term at the age of 77. He died the next year and was succeed by his wife, Isabel Martínez de Perón in 1974. By the middle of her short presidency, the Dirty War was underway as she battled anti-communist paramilitary fighters, often continuing her husband’s underhanded means to remain in power. She was promptly ousted and exiled by the military in 1976 in the midst of a crisis that saw rocketing inflation in the country.
Intent on rooting out Peronists and communist sympathizers, the military established the ‘National Reorganization Process,’ which turned out to be a brutal junta lasting several long years, from 1976 to 1983. Under ‘Operation Condor,’ tens of thousands of Argentines suspected of being political dissidents were kidnapped, tortured, and often killed by the military. Pregnant women who were kidnapped were allowed to give birth and their babies were stolen and given to the families of military officers. Afterwards, the women were killed. Suspected dissidents were thrown from military planes to drown in the Atlantic. Bodies of persons executed on land were often mutilated. Meanwhile, various groups of Marxist guerrilla fighters, including the Montonaros, bombed and assassinated people throughout the country. Thousands were killed and kidnapped. To this day, the Argentine people are still coping with the loss and displacement of people during the Dirty War.
To make matters worse, in 1982, in an attempt to rally nationalism around their regime and distract people from internal problems, the junta invaded the Falkland Islands about a thousand miles off the Argentine coast, a group of islands which has been long claimed by Argentina though ruled by the United Kingdom since 1833. In response, British naval fleets, aircraft carriers, and bombers quickly made their way to the south Atlantic, bringing about a swift victory for the United Kingdom. The Falklands War was over in a little over two months, but it came at the expense of hundreds of casualties and the sinking of several warships on both sides. The loss for Argentina, however, led to the disgrace and ultimate collapse of the junta in 1983 and the restoration of democracy.
Moved by the plight of the poor and the harshness of the government, many Jesuit priests rallied around various liberation theologies that were often mixed with Marxist politics and sometimes involvement with the guerrilla warriors. Father Bergoglio was also very interested in the plight of the less fortunate, but he saw dangers for the Church in many of the strains of liberation theology circulating through Latin America. In secondary school, Father Bergoglio had a communist teacher whom he highly regarded and he even read a communist publication, but he never became a communist. Many in Latin America blamed American capitalism for the economic situation in their countries.
As a priest and provincial, Father Bergoglio realized that the Gospel of Christ could not be reduced to any worldly ideology, especially one that is furthered by violent revolution. Many of these liberation theologies substituted the ultimate Christian hope of heaven with a worldly utopia, crowding out the Gospel’s emphasis on liberation from sin and death in favor of liberation from socioeconomic oppression. Furthermore, it was clear to Father Bergoglio that priests, as leaders of the Church and men set apart, must never take up arms or participate in murderous acts against the oppressors. He also had to maintain the safety of the Jesuits during the junta. As provincial, Father Bergoglio was firm with priests who confused preaching the Gospel with furthering ideology and associated closely with the guerrillas. He even had to dismiss some priests from the Society of Jesus who refused to comply.
In the mid 1980’s, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued two corrective documents with regard to liberation theology. The documents, promulgated by then-Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, affirmed the authentic message of Christian liberation from sin as well as the Church’s preferential option for the poor while warning strongly against confusing the Gospel with worldly ideology or violent revolution. After Father Bergoglio became pope, Father Lombardi, the Vatican press secretary, said, “Regarding ‘liberation theology’: Bergoglio has always referred to the Instructions of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He has always rejected violence, saying that its price is always paid by the weakest” (as quoted in Ch. 7 of Pope Francis by Matthew Bunson, which also further explains the situation in Argentina and the Jesuits during that time). Some of the priests’ close ties with the resistance, in fact, would lead to near tragedy.