Nobel prize winner says Pope not connected to Argentine dictatorship

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 15, 2013 / 15:02 pm

In response to accusations against Pope Francis, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights defender said the new Pontiff has no ties to the dictatorship that Argentina endured from 1976 - 1983.

Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980, is known for his sympathy for the left in Latin America and for his defense of Marxist Liberation Theology and the Castro regime.

During Benedict XVI's visit to Cuba in March of 2012, he said the Pope "should learn to listen, he shouldn't come with his prejudices. He should come with an open heart and mind."

"This Pope was the inquisitor of Liberation Theology, but the Pope needs a conversion. Cubans need to help him be converted," he said at the time.

Despite those previous statements, Perez Esquivel told the BBC this week that "there were bishops who were accomplices of the dictatorship, but not (Cardinal) Bergoglio."

Pope Francis "is being questioned because they say he did not do enough to get two priests released from jail when he was superior of the Jesuits," Perez Esquivel said. "But I personally know that many bishops asked the military regime to release prisoners and priests and it was not granted."

"He has no connection to the dictatorship," the Nobel laureate stated.