Pope launched sainthood case for Argentine priests

[onehandle]

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — It was time for Mass, but no one opened the church door. When a teenager climbed through a window to investigate, he found five bloodied bodies, face-down on the floor in their living quarters. Police officers had stormed into the San Patricio church after midnight on July 4, 1976 and shot to death three priests and two seminarians — the bloodiest single act of violence against the Roman Catholic Church during Argentina's brutal dictatorship.

Now Catholic officials in Argentina are working to have them declared saints. And the man who promoted their cause as archbishop will have the last word, as Pope Francis.

"This parish has been blessed by the presence of those who chose to live not for themselves, but to die so that others may live," then-Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio said in 2001 during a service marking the 25th anniversary of the killings of the Pallottine churchmen.

What became to be known as the San Patricio Massacre is a searing example of the strains within the Argentine church where Bergoglio spent his entire career. In all, 18 priests, 11 seminarians and about 50 Catholic lay workers would be killed or made to disappear as death squads sought to eliminate left-leaning activists during Argentina's "dirty war."

http://news.yahoo.com/pope-launched-sainthood-case-argentine-priests-184857577.html

[madrchsod]

1. this guy is`t messing around

i`m thinking he`s going to change the church in a positive direction. there`s other priests and nuns who gave their lives fighting the us backed right wing central american countries.