CBS Follows ABC to Airing Ugly Accusations Against Pope, Provides Just One Quote In His Defense
Monday night's CBS Evening News followed CNN and ABC
to the ugly decades-old accusations against Pope Francis from his time
in Argentina. CBS featured the same critic of Pope Francis that ABC did
on Sunday. CNN, meanwhile, was the only one of the three networks to
seriously question the accusations.
"There are still questions, though, about the Pope's relationship with
Argentina's former government, a military dictatorship that kidnapped
and killed thousands in the '70s and '80s," reported fill-in anchor Bob
Schieffer. CBS centered the story around Francis' accuser, with only one
quote in his defense.
[Video below. Audio here.]
CBS interviewed the same accuser that ABC featured in its one-sided
report, Estela de la Cuadra, an Argentinian women with several family
members who were victims of the junta, the old Argentinian dictatorship.
"De la Cuadra believes the future pope could have done more to speak
out against the dictatorship, but others insist during the regime's
seven years in power Bergoglio did what he was able to," CBS
correspondent Elaine Quijano reported before she quoted Francis'
biographer Francesca Ambrogetti.
"His inauguration is tomorrow. How do you feel about him becoming
pope?" Quijano teed up de la Cuadra, who spat "It's not my pope. It's
not my religious authority. I think he's leaving behind many open
wounds. He owes us an answer because he had all the power. He owes us
that."
A transcript of the segment, which aired on the CBS Evening News on March 18 at 6:39 p.m. EDT:
BOB SCHIEFFER: Old rivals came together at the Vatican today when
Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez visited Pope Francis. They have
differed sharply on several issues in the past, including his
opposition to same-sex marriage and contraception. This meeting,
apparently, went well. Fernandez gave Francis a present, he gave her a
kiss. There are still questions, though, about the Pope's relationship
with Argentina's former government, a military dictatorship that
kidnapped and killed thousands in the '70s and '80s. Elaine Quijano has
that story in Buenos Aires.
(Video Clip)
ELAINE QUIJANO: (voice over) Estela de la Cuadra's family members
started disappearing in 1976, just as Argentina's military dictatorship
began its brutal reign over the country. Seven relatives, including her
husband Gustavo and her pregnant sister Elena, were kidnapped. De la
Cuadra's father tried appealing to the head of the Jesuit priests Jorge
Bergoglio.
(On camera) In 1977, your father met with Bergoglio. What did your father want Bergoglio to do?
ESTELA DE LA CUADRA: (in Spanish) (unintelligible)
QUIJANO: (voice over) She told us "papa asked him for help."
(On camera) What did Bergoglio do?
DE LA CUADRA: (in spanish) (unintelligible)
QUIJANO: (voice over) "Bergoglio did write this short note," she said,
"so my father could see one of the military authorities."
(On camera) Did Bergoglio do anything else?
DE LA CUADRA: (in Spanish) (unintelligible)
QUIJANO: (voice over) "No, as far as we know, no," she said. De la
Cuadra believes the future pope could have done more to speak out
against the dictatorship, but others insist during the regime's seven
years in power Bergoglio did what he was able to, including helping some
citizens who were about to be arrested. Francesca Ambrogetti is
co-author of "The Jesuit," a biography of Bergoglio.
FRANCESCA AMBROGETTI, co-author, "The Jesuit": (in Spanish) (unintelligible)
QUIJANO: "There was much proof that he helped people who needed help,"
she said. "For instance, people who wanted to get out of the country to
get out." But that's little comfort to Estela de la Cuadra.
(On camera) His inauguration is tomorrow. How do you feel about him becoming pope?
DE LA CUADRA: (in Spanish) (Unintelligible)
QUIJANO: (voice over) "It's not my pope," she said. "It's not my
religious authority. I think he's leaving behind many open wounds. He
owes us an answer because he had all the power. He owes us that."
(On camera) In recent years, then-Cardinal Bergoglio led the Argentine
Catholic church's effort to apologize for its failure to speak out more
forcefully against human rights abuses. Bob?
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center
