Argentinean Cardinal calls for rejection of ideological divisions

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct 5, 2004 / 22:00 pm

On the occasion of a massive pilgrimage of young people to the national shrine of Luján in Argentina, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, harshly criticized the efforts to revive the ideological conflicts of the 1970’s, saying there are some “who wish to deceive and divide us.”

The Cardinal made his comments during the homily of the closing Mass of the 30th Youth Pilgrimage to Lujan, in the context of increasing pressure to reopen trials for human rights violations and of one-sided reporting about the violence during the dictatorship of the 1970’s.

“Today we come to say to our Mother that we wish to be one people; that we don’t want to fight amongst ourselves; that she defend us against those who wish to divide us; that we want to be family and that we have no need of an ideology of revenge that claims to bring us redemption,” said the Cardinal.

Recalling that “Mary held the body of Jesus after the cross,” Cardinal Bergoglio underscored that “in the moments in which everything appears to be lost, God manifests his love in all of its grandeur, which makes us strong.”

At the conclusion of his homily, the Cardinal called on young people to “return home renewed” after their pilgrimage to the Basilica of Luján, where “we leave behind everything that we find difficult to bear in our daily lives,” and he reiterated his prayer to Mary that all Argentineans desire to be “one people.”