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TechnoratiBUENOS AIRES - More than two decades after the end of Argentina's dirty war, an Argentine federal court on Tuesday convicted a Catholic priest of participating in a series of crimes that it said were "akin to genocide."
A panel of three federal judges sentenced Christian von Wernich, 69, to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of direct participation in seven murders and direct or indirect involvement in 42 cases of kidnapping and torture.
Von Wernich had been chaplain to the Buenos Aires provincial police, which ran numerous torture centers in the province. He'd been detained since 2003 after being found in a Chilean parish by a team of Argentine and Chilean investigative journalists.
Human rights groups estimate that the 1976-83 Argentine military dictatorship was responsible for the deaths of 10,000 to 30,000 people during the dirty war.
Chief Judge Carlos Rozanski slowly read the names of the victims before a packed courtroom in La Plata, southeast of Buenos Aires, and was interrupted by cheers from members of the Madres (mothers) de Plaza del Mayo, a rights group. The mothers, who dressed in black and had maintained a vigil for the country's disappeared during Argentina's darkest years, raised their white scarves over their heads as they cheered.
When the sentence was read, von Wernich stood impassively without saying a word. Earlier in the day, he made a rare appearance in court, in his preferred bulletproof vest, and maintained his innocence. "False testimony is the devil. It is filled with malice," he told the court. Von Wernich has long claimed that he was simply fulfilling his priestly duties.
His attorneys treated the trial as a sham, producing no witnesses and offering only minimal cross-examination. But a spokesman for the Argentine Bishops Conference, Father Jorge Oesterheld, said it was "very probable" that the bishops will issue an imminent statement expressing respect for the verdict. Until now, the Argentine Church has stayed silent.
The case against von Wernich is unprecedented, not only in Argentina but throughout Latin America, and it could have ramifications around the continent, said Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch.
"I don't recall a single other case of a priest or a religious person who has been convicted in Latin America for criminal participation in human rights violations," he said.
One of the key charges against von Wernich is that he abused his priestly status and the sacrament of confession to collaborate with the junta. Many victims testified that he persuaded them to confess, often in the presence of police, the names of their fellow political activists, who subsequently would be kidnapped.
Ruben Rufino Dri, a theologian and former priest, told the court on the final day of testimony that such confessions were illegal. He said that a valid confession "has to have absolute explicit consent" between the two parties. He added that "it is an act totally private. Others cannot be present."
Dri also criticized the notion of chaplains working in police headquarters, arguing that they could take confession at any church.
Despite Von Wernich's violations of the pastoral mission, the Argentine Church took no action during the era of the junta, even as their colleagues in Brazil and Chile confronted their respective dictatorships.
Witnesses who testified for the prosecution in the wrenching three-month trial professed deep religious faith and included many Catholics.
Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for founding a "non-violent Christian movement" in the '70s called Paz y Justicia (Peace and Justice) to support victims of the dictatorship, described his futile efforts to enlist church support.
Days earlier, Father Ruben Capitanio, who attended seminary school with von Wernich in the 1970s, told the courtroom: "I say this with pain. Until the church recognizes its errors, we will be an unfaithful church."
He closed his testimony by telling family members of the victims that "I apologize for still not being the church that we must be, on the side of the crucified and not the crucifiers."
The Vatican was ahead of the Argentine church, said Perez Esquivel. He told the court that the papal envoy to Argentina during the dictatorship, Pio Laghi, once told him, "'What do you want me to do? I cannot do what Argentine bishops do not want to do.'"
Other witnesses included Hector Timerman, Argentina's current consul general in New York. He said his father, Jacob, a Buenos Aires newspaper editor at the time, was kidnapped and tortured and had to bear von Wernich's anti-Semitic rants, such as how he made up an international Jewish conspiracy to take over the Patagonia.
Many victims said von Wernich led them to think he was sympathetic to them and their fates. He visited their families, frequently promising their imminent release while dining in their homes.
Cecilia Idiart, who lived in the small town of Bragado, outside Buenos Aires, was part of a group of seven students, all leftist militants, that the priest befriended while they were detained.
Her sister, Adriana, told the court, "It was a joy to see him because he brought good news." She charged, however, that the priest extorted $1500 from the families. Ultimately, Cecilia and six others were killed, and von Wernich witnessed at least three of the murders, according to a government truth commission in 1984.
Adding insult to injury, the Argentine Church authorized the transfer of von Wernich to the Idiarts' hometown in 1988. Even though his actions had been made public as of 1984, he remained the town's priest until 1996.
(Sreeharsha is a McClatchy special correspondent. Nancy San Martin of The Miami Herald contributed.)
© 2007 Mclatchy Newspapers
10 Comments so far
Show AllnigelUK mentioning assassinated Sister Dorothy Stang caused me to do a little websearch, for I had been mistakeningly thinking Dorothy Day, who, as I was now reminded, is a very different person, Catholic and story. I must have read of her before and just not having read enough about either of them, I got the names mixed up.
I don't know about Dorothy Day, except little, but the websearch seems to indicate that she's another person to consider as a good example of both Catholic Church membership and Christian, which is the most important of these two appellations or ... how ever you wish to refer; maybe titles (whatever). Anyway, so I'll include her here as a good example; and she seems a fine example of simply human being, too, of course.
For the two of them as well as for the worldwide known former and assassinated Archbishop Oscar Romero, it's easy to do websearches using only their names, so I won't bother with providing any links on these people. Actually, all of the people I am mentioning can be looked up by their names.
Archbishop Romero is a great example to mention in the context of the article this page is for; given the way the Argentine Church's bishops and the Vatican acted and did not act during the 'dirty war' era of the dictatorship U.S.-backed (and worse) junta in Argentina. His example should be a spotlight or floodlight on those bishops, because of the extreme contrast. They then should have nothing to feel other than SHAME, and should BEG for forgiveness from all of these victims and their families, and from Jesus of Nazareth, aka The Christ; for having BETRAYED him and his true followers, disciples, flocks. In doing what they did to these many people, and the Church, they literally and totally betrayed him (and all of these many people). And that includes betraying him wherein the innocents who were victims of the dictatorship the Argentine Church sided with were non-Catholics and non-Christians, for they were innocents and victims, and to betray them IS ALSO to betray Jesus.
He definitely was NO religious bigot. He was opposed to religious bigotry.
Another but slightly older example and from the Nazi death camps era is Franciscan firar Maximillien (aka Maximillian) Kolbe, who had the Nazis give him the punishment that they were going to put a married Jewish man with a family to. As I learned of the story, the Jewish man begged not to be punished, and it would've certainly been unjust to do so, because of having a family; therefore, Max. Kolbe asked to take the Jewish man's place and was punished, instead of the Jewish man being punished.
That's in contrast to the priest the article is about having accused the Jewish editor of being part of an international Jewish conspiracy to take over .... Kolbe had no accusations or grievances against the Jewish man he helped, and evidently had no fears of some international Jewish conspiracy; knowing well that not only Jews were suffering due to the "works" of the Nazi regime.
And there are many other religious persons of the Catholic and other Christian churches of the past, all now deceased, but also many examples from the laity.
Plus there are many examples from people who are alive today.
Of course we should expect for there to be many more examples to draw from the laity than from those with religious vows, the clergies, nuns, etc.; but it's also more shocking when the bad examples are from the latter Christians, given their vows, roles, titles (whatever or etc.).
Among clergy today, we have Father Jean-Juste in Haiti, the activist clergy members in the U.S., like the Jesuit who started Schools of America Watch, those protesting against the U.S. govt's torture practices, and others.
Among the laity in the U.S., we have the St Patrick's Four, who nicely opposed the war on Iraq; but also others.
But MANY more Christians of the U.S. and from all of the churches supported the launching of the war on Iraq and at a time when it really was strongly obvious that this war could NEVER be justified and that the U.S. was therefore commanding war of entirely criminal and hell-on-earth aggression. One Protestant and the Catholic churches in the U.S. were, from statistics that I read, the least supportive, but both were in the mid- or higher 60% to 70% range, so the majority of their members supported the war on Iraq; while the other Christian churches had higher support for the war. And all of that support continued for a LONG time, relatively speaking.
So the TRUE Christians are minorities in their churches, in the U.S. anyway.
That has hopefully taken a whole drastic change; I HOPE. And if it has, then people better work on making this change LAST, last, last and never cease or diminish.
Commonsense alone was enough to easily know that the war could NEVER be justified. Christians should develop and continuously practice commonsense, and they have a lot to learn from Jesus, for he did not teach nonsense. What he taught and, of his own, illustrated in character in social order terms entirely fits with healthy and whole commonsense. Wherein there's distinction, among all of humanity, so including athiests, this is in the reference to God, the Holy Spirit, heaven, hell, that which is not of temporal nature. But MUCH of what he taught is of the social order nature, and it's all commonsense.
A big problem with a lot of Americans is that they don't really know what commonsense means; regularly confounding common way with commonsense. There's a very strong difference between those two concepts; very strong. Commonsense has to do with Reason, intelligence, being rational, as in rationally sane, vs irrationally insane, say, towards others and also ourselves. Common way is what unfortunately is the problem for societies that are destructive and unjust; when people adopt and follow destructive and unjust, unhealthy, ... ways to the point that this becomes common. 'Way' is like with left and right; 'Sense' is Reason.
A healthy complement for commonsense to be strong is having healthy intuition, intuitiveness. Both are found in an analysis of, "do for others that which you would want done for yourself" and "do not unto others that which you would not want done unto yourself"; both being ways that are too uncommon in the commonsense[less] USA.
Commonsense, when it is real, tells us that we MUST be FAIR towards ALL others; regardless of religious, sexual, etc. differences. It also tells us that we must oppose injustices; again regardless of religious, sexual, ... differences. It tells us to truly live and do all we can to work for real Peace [and] Justice; to not call for Peace while we ignore the necessity of Justice, for without that, forget Peace. To be activist for peace while not complementing this with a primary focus on being activist for justice is to live in disneyland, fantasies.
Disneyland is not about commonsense; it's quite contrary, and can be that to the point of being enemy.
I don't side with end of war for sake of Peace but for sake of END of injustices. If we get the latter, then we'll quite automatically get peace. She can't live without Justice, for injustices suffocate her, Peace.
The article reflects not people seeking peace but seeking JUSTICE; and they and all other victims of injustices in our world deserve to obtain JUSTICE. These people, victims and victims families had peace with their much improved govt and society, but they still desired, sought and deserved Justice. When we have that, then Peace can be completed.
Let's hope it is lasting, once the sister-pairing of Peace [and] Justice are achieved or established.
Meanwhile, the world is on fire with INJUSTICES.
Between 10,000 and 30,000 innocent victims because the United States desired regime change?
For a country that prides itself on their so-called "human rights" record, that's pretty sickening. The catholic church used to enforce political policy? Just as bad. Shameful, really.
Guarantees a cross in one hand, and a whip in the other. I hope they hang him from the highest yard-arm in the land.
I'd like to think his execution is just the start of holding the guilty responsible. Let the chips fall. The authors of this brutality deserve to pay a price.
Looks as if he's feeling the rope already.
As a practising Anglican I regard Christian von Wernich as an epitome of the Roman Catholic Church (or any church for that matter) at its self-serving worst.
For a picture of the church as it really SHOULD be (ie. not self-serving, but actually serving), though, refer to such as Sister Dorothy Stang (killed in Brazil just over 2 years ago), and the five Adorers slain in Liberia 15 years ago this month. The latter have won, not my doctrinal allegiance, but my undying love, for their refusal to desert the people they had known and worked with for so long - even in the face of impending, violent death.
VP material.
At least that quisling of US imperialism has finally been brought to justice.
"...Christian von Wernich, 69,..."
Was he a graduate of Hitler's youth camp?
Another little USA foreign policy boondogle: 10,000 to 30,000 dead in the Argentine "dirty war." Wasn't it the USA that wanted regime change in Argentina and got it?
New T-Shirt:
"Got Genocide?"
Or
"Got Torture?"
The close link between the empire/dictatorship and the "powerful" Christian church can be seen since the latter's connection with the Emperor Canstantine. History is filled with the brutality of the Christian church with the help of the political power. For eg. Inquisition (as I understand, the present pope has renamed this barbaric system to impliment it again). The brutality of Christian missionaries with the help of their respective governments can also be seen throughout the world. Is it in anyway different from the American Churches' support of genocidal and terrorist activities of the US government throuout the world??? Listen to pastor Hagee and other evangelical power-mongers and murderers, who form a powerful support to the inhuman activities of the American government.
What I do not understand is: how does this "behavior" of the christian church and the christ-ans correlate with their professed faith in Jesus Christ, who identified himself with the marginalised and the "victims" of the powerful religio-political system????????????
Well, it's a about Time. Now Let's go after all the other Facists in the Vaticant.