Bergoglio and Perón, One Heart. The perils of a politicised Papacy

Because, as Perón said, "we are all Peronists," and, as Bergoglio said, "every person is a child of God."

Perón and Bergoglio's greatest enemies were the same conservative military officers and cardinals who had given them the opportunity to govern.

As often happens with deaths, I inevitably thought of Pope Francis, a person who hadn't interested me much while he was alive. For those of us who are not Catholic but follow political and social news, the figures of the popes inevitably impose themselves on us. It's not entirely clear to us what they do, or to what extent their power is symbolic or real, but we are aware of their influence on the political scene, and they cannot be ignored, especially given that he was an Argentine pope. And for those of us who have followed politics almost obsessively for many years, it's very difficult not to think of it in general under the influence of Peronism, with all its heterogeneity and complexity, permeating Argentines, despite the fact that there is a great parochialism in that attitude.

Of all the articles that reflected on the legacy of Pope Francis, the one I found most illuminating was one entitled "The Three Traits That Marked the Pontificate of a Pope Who Cannot Be Understood Without Peronism," written by Loris Zanatta for La Nación. In it, the Italian historian, a specialist in the link between the Catholic Church and Peronism in Argentina, comments that what Pope Francis did was nothing more than transfer Peronist logic from a local to a global scale. While Zanatta presents this as a pejorative characteristic, for me it was very illuminating.

In my experience, the best interpreters of Peronism are those who have no sympathy whatsoever for the greater national movement: Halperin Donghi, Sebreli, Fernández Díaz, among others. Although Bergoglio never publicly proclaimed himself a Peronist once he became pope—refusing the question Jorge Fontevecchia asked him in an interview for Perfil following the tenth anniversary of his pontificate—he naturally had a past, an affinity, and a connection with the elements that make up the Peronist universe. I return then to Zanatta and identify these aspects in the political identities of Bergoglio and Perón:

A gradual rise to the pinnacle of power.

Pragmatism in seizing the sense of historical opportunity to unite support.

Top-down and charismatic leadership.

Ability to structure a political discourse based on the antagonism between "the people" and "elites."

Just as Perón went from being a common military man who taught and held minor positions in the public administration to becoming Secretary of Labor, Minister of War, Vice President, and President, Bergoglio went from being a priest to bishop, cardinal, and Pope. It can be said that, in addition to their intrigue and desire for power, in order to fully consolidate their positions as president and pope, both knew how to interpret their times and changed many of the positions they had held in the past.

In 1945 and 2013, the quest to impose a novel policy led both Perón and Bergoglio to outline more radical ideas than they had previously held. These attitudes could be considered leftist, but without implying a break with the structure that sustained them. In fact, Perón and Bergoglio's greatest enemies were the same conservative military men and cardinals who had given them the opportunity to govern. The argument they used was that they could offer a safety net, arguing that some concessions were necessary to prevent Argentine workers from becoming communists or the world's Catholics from becoming evangelicals. This was what Perón expressed to the business community in his famous speech at the Stock Exchange, delivered shortly after taking office, and what Bergoglio expressed to his fellow cardinals at the conclave that elected him as supreme pontiff.

"Neither communists nor protestants": Pope Francis and Juan Domingo Perón appealed to the same argument before the traditional powers that anointed them.

The leaderships of Perón and Bergoglio were based on seeking to connect with the grassroots, which they expressed in grand public appearances and eloquent speeches. But they also knew that it was not convenient for another leader to overshadow them.

For this reason, Perón quickly dismissed Cipriano Reyes, the Berisso union leader who mobilized workers toward the Plaza de Mayo on October 17, 1945. This is why Bergoglio got along so badly with Néstor Kirchner, making this known when, in 2006, he asked the bishop of Misiones to use his influence to stop the indefinite reelection of K-governor Carlos Rovira (who, from then on, had to resign himself to appointing a deputy and exercising power from the shadows).

Although, like good pragmatic politicians, when Perón wanted to return to power, he sought the embrace of his former adversary, the Radical Ricardo Balbín, and when she learned who had been elected as the new pope, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner put her misgivings aside and traveled to the Vatican to take a smiling photo with Francis.

In both cases, the content of the speech wasn't so important: what mattered was rallying supporters, votes, parishioners, and accumulating power. That's why Perón first encouraged coups d'état and then clean elections; first he helped overthrow Yrigoyen and then vindicated him; first he confronted the United States and then he mended relations; first he established religious education in schools and then he encouraged the burning of churches after he was overthrown; first he encouraged armed struggle and then he ordered its persecution.

What mattered was the idea of ​​being able to form a "people" that would define itself through antagonism with an "other," regardless of whether the idea of ​​"people" could change over time. That's how Perón won the elections and was able to return to power after exile and proscription.

In the extraordinary documentary Amen: Francis Responds, directed by Spanish journalist Jordi Évole, Pope Francis speaks with young people about abortion, pedophilia, gender, feminism, migration, evangelism, pornography, masturbation, prostitution, cell phones, the internet, and social media. A series of topics that would seemingly be stinging to the Church, but which become very attractive for the leader to embrace the oppressed in different parts of the world and defend them against the conservative, the insensitive, the selfish, the greedy. Because, as Perón said, "we are all Peronists," and, as Bergoglio said, "every person is a child of God."

Because, as Perón said, "we are all Peronists," and, as Bergoglio said, "every person is a child of God."

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