Mass in Argentina to atone for criticism of Pope Francis

They call for a Mass to atone for criticism of Pope Francis after Milei called him a "communist".

Although the libertarian moderated his criticisms to the Supreme Pontiff, in the past he even called him a "lefty NGO worker". In response to this, the priests of the slums came out to defend him.

The group of Curas en Opción por los Pobres (Priests in Option for the Poor) announced the realization of a Mass in atonement of Pope Francis, after the presidential candidate Javier Milei treated him as a communist and "lefty". 

The ceremony will be held on Tuesday, September 5, a date that was set after a meeting of slum priests held this Tuesday. The place chosen will be the neighborhood 21, in the city of Buenos Aires, where Jorge Bergoglio visited before arriving at the Vatican.

The event was confirmed in the last hours by Father Pepe Di Paola, who in an interview said that the Mass has as an objective to counteract the offenses that Milei poured on the Supreme Pontiff.

It is worth remembering that although in the last days he moderated himself by saying that he respects him as "head of the Catholic Church and as head of State", some time ago he said things like "a lefty NGO worker who goes around the world proclaiming communism. You are the representative of the evil one in the house of God". 

"There comes a time when we Catholics have to say no. Our spiritual guide, whom we accompany and know, we tell him that he has all our support and that we totally reject this type of false accusations", said Di Paola in declarations to Mañana Sylvestre (Radio 10).

Di Paola, among those organizing the Mass of atonement to Francis.

The popular religious referent said that neighborhood 21 was chosen for the Mass, since there "Bergoglio used to come and share with the people of the neighborhood, who know him very well" because "he is the one who has always been close to the most needy people". Thus, it seeks to be "a message to say that the grievances he received are totally reprehensible". 

"We have to know that after the feeling of anger, the good sense of all Argentines has to come a little and Pope Francis is a person that one can understand in that sense, and to say that he is a communist is totally reprehensible", insisted Di Paola. 

Di Paola: "We understand the anger".

Although in the last days he moderated his discourse, the religious close to Francis do not forget the violent messages that Milei published in social networks against the Supreme Pontiff. And in a context in which his electoral chances of becoming President are high, concern is growing. 

For Di Paola, the grievances he received from the leader of La Libertad Avanza "were of different types: from ideology to irreproducible epithets, which are striking as they have been passed over in the programs, that the candidate has not been asked how he dares to say such a thing". 

Javier Milei moderated his speech, also regarding the Pope.

In this context, the popular commentator analyzed the socio-economic context and said that "we understand the people's anger about the situation". However, he called to "value those things that we have had for many years, such as public schools, public health, having a health center in the neighborhoods. We know the value of this". 

Thus, "we want to convey that we have to get rid of that anger and value the things we have, which we do not want to be gone with the stroke of a pen".

Source

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