Pope Francis. During the military junta, Fr. Jorge Bergoglio headed the influential Argentine Jesuit order of priests. His own politics were openly conservative and anti-communist. He was deeply hostile to liberation theology which focused on the needs of the poor and was a growing movement among Latin America’s nuns and priests. For decades, many have accused Bergoglio of collaborating with the junta and informing on these left-wing Catholics.
For people in Latin America who were part of the left leaning Catholics, such as myself, the pope, even with all his limitations, were good news. He also delayed the advance of some very reactionary elements in the Catholic church, which is still majoritary in Latin American countries such as Brazil. So even knowing his problems (including his participation in Argentinian dictatorship), I still think his term as the pope was positive.
His history in Argentina is damning: https://socialism.com/fs-article/pope-francis-the-catholic-church-and-argentinas-dirty-war/
His response:
^This. The bar for a better pope is really low. I did, however, enjoy some Catholics freaking out over some of his more progressive stances he said.
For people in Latin America who were part of the left leaning Catholics, such as myself, the pope, even with all his limitations, were good news. He also delayed the advance of some very reactionary elements in the Catholic church, which is still majoritary in Latin American countries such as Brazil. So even knowing his problems (including his participation in Argentinian dictatorship), I still think his term as the pope was positive.
It would have been better if liberation theology was the more de facto institutional catholicism.