Argentine church remembers bishop killed during dictatorship

Published: 2006-08-07

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CNS) -- Buenos Aires Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio paid an unprecedented tribute to an outspoken bishop on the 30th anniversary of his death in a car accident that the government now admits was murder. Cardinal Bergoglio celebrated Mass and prayed at the tomb of Bishop Enrique Angelelli of La Rioja in that city's cathedral Aug. 4, which was decreed by President Nestor Kirchner as a day of national mourning. "He spilled his blood to preach the Gospel," said Cardinal Bergoglio. "On the day of (Bishop) Angelelli's death on Aug. 4, 1976, someone was very happy because they believed they had triumphed. They failed." Earlier, at a separate government tribute, Kirchner said he accepted that the bishop had been murdered and that the judiciary had been slow to act. Coincidentally on the anniversary of Bishop Angelelli's death, an Argentine court convicted a police officer for human rights abuses during Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship. This was the first conviction since laws guaranteeing immunity were repealed last year.

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