The thrust of Ivereigh’s book is that only by delving into Francis’ past, particularly his Jesuit background and his acceptance of certain forms of Peronism, can the reader understand his plan for the Church. Peronism -- a movement launched by former-Argentinian president Juan Peron -- rejects both capitalism and socialism and advocates a third way based on social justice, nationalism and state involvement in the economy.
Ivereigh describes Peronism as “a movement rather than a party, a culture rather than an interest group, a political hybrid so popular and absorbent that for decades it has dominated modern Argentina.” The movement was highly influential on Bergoglio, who was once reprimanded for wearing a Peronist symbol to school as a boy.
Bergoglio came to respect Peronism for the way it articulated the values of the people and their traditions. It leads, in Ivereigh’s view, to a Bergoglio who rejects Marxism and neo-liberalism as ideologies that place ideas above people, especially the poor. Ivereigh uses as an example Bergoglio’s position after the Second Vatican Council (1962-5) where he embraced the Council’s “preferential option for the poor” without sliding into the camp of some progressive bishops and clergy, who blended church teaching with Marxist ideology.
“He had a particular understanding of the renewal which was anti-liberal and anti-Marxist. He’s a nationalist, comes out of a nationalist Catholic tradition in Argentina…which tends to value the values of ordinary people and the traditions of Argentina and would see the Enlightenment as being foreign to that tradition,” Ivereigh told FoxNews.com. ‘So he wasn’t a conservative, but he had an understanding of the Council that was at odds with a certain kind of progressive view.”
Read the entire article: Solving the ‘enigma’ of Pope Francis | Fox News
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