Puerto Rico Catholics support archbishop

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Catholics in Puerto Rico were rallying Wednesday around an archbishop who is apparently under pressure from the Vatican to resign for allegedly covering up for sexually abusive priests and other misdeeds.

Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez Nieves has not confirmed that he is being asked to step down as leader of the Catholic church in the U.S. island territory. However, he has asked parishioners to pray for him.

"I beg of you, please, do not send letters to the Holy See with expressions of solidarity. There is only one thing to do in situations like these: Pray," he wrote in a May 3 letter that was read to churchgoers last Sunday. "I know the last two weeks have been intense and painful for all of us for reasons you already know."

A rally of support scheduled for Wednesday evening coincided with Gonzalez's 14th anniversary at the Puerto Rican archdiocese. He had previously studied and worked in New York, Texas, Maryland and Massachusetts. The 62-year-old was born in New Jersey but moved to Puerto Rico at a young age.

Gonzalez reached out to supporters after local radio station Noti Uno recently published a letter that he allegedly wrote to Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Vatican's powerful office for bishops. The six-page letter dated Feb. 20 shows Gonzales defending himself against accusations including that he protected priests accused of sexual abuse and meddled in local politics.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Wednesday the Holy See had no comment on the letter, the publication of which he called an "indiscretion."

The matter is significant because the Vatican has long been criticized by victims of sexually abusive priests for having failed to punish bishops who covered up for their abusive priests, moving them from parish to parish rather than reporting them to police.

Even more significant would be forcible removal of a bishop who refuses to resign on his own.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI on a handful of occasions forcibly removed bishops who resisted the Vatican's suggestions that they retire early. But none were believed to have been removed for having covered up for abusive priests.

At 62, Gonzalez is 13 years below the normal retirement age for bishops.

Gonzalez issued a brief statement following Noti Uno's report.

"Any communication or alleged communication between this servant and the Holy See that involves an internal and confidential matter, I'll only deal with the Holy See on it," he said. "I also invite you to pray, so the truth that can set us free be known in this matter."

In the Feb. 20 letter, Gonzalez allegedly wrote that he would not step down and that he was profoundly offended and hurt by the gravity of the accusations, requesting evidence to back them up. He noted that the accusations were made verbally during a Dec. 15 meeting with Monsignor Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary of the Congregation for Bishops.

"It caused me great dismay, first, because they were false and distorted, and second, because it seemed that my guilt was prejudged," he said. "In fact, it's not clear if these accusations are final and if so, what investigation prompted them."

Gonzalez stated that in October 2011 he was the target of an apostolic visitation, a Vatican-mandated investigation that is still ongoing. Gonzalez did not explain the reason behind the visit, except to say he was temporarily prohibited from making religious appointments, and that he was warned he might not be notified about possible future visits.

Such apostolic visitations occur worldwide with some frequency for issues ranging from alleged sex abuse to financial irregularities.

Supporters of Gonzalez, including several nonprofit religious organizations on the island, say he is the target of a political campaign to oust him.

"We condemn the evil leak of confidential information, and even more, the anonymity that his accusers have maintained," said officials with the Puerto Rican Catholic Alliance for Life and Homeland.

Eduardo Rivero, president of Radio Isla, a local news station, condemned those who have rushed to judge Gonzalez. He also accused other local media of unfairly attacking him.

"I'm well aware of the risks of commenting on a religious matter as president of this medium," he said in a statement. "But ... I cannot remain silent ... You can be sure Radio Isla will always be on the side of those who are good for Puerto Rico."

Gonzalez noted that he was asked not to talk about the situation, but that he has reached out to several bishops and cardinals he considers friends so he can defend himself. He wrote that one of them is Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, where Gonzalez worked for 12 years before eventually moving to Puerto Rico.

He said he had also discussed the matter with three other U.S. cardinals, among them Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as archbishop of Boston in 2002, when the clerical sex abuse scandal exploded in the U.S. Rather than being punished for covering up for the pedophiles on his staff, however, Law was given the plum job as archpriest of one of the Vatican's major basilicas in Rome.

Gonzalez said he also was told that after resigning, he should seek another position within the church.

"Given that the accusations are so serious, that if they were true, how is it possible for me to occupy another position?" he wrote.

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Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield contributed from Rome.

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Argentine Catholics overjoyed at 1st Latam pope

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Latin Americans reacted with joy, bursting into tears and cheers on Wednesday at news that an Argentine cardinal has become the first pope from the hemisphere.

"It's incredible!" said Martha Ruiz, 60, who was weeping tears of emotion after learning that the cardinal she knew as Jorge Mario Bergoglio will now be Pope Francis I.

She said she had been in many meetings with the cardinal and said, "He is a man who transmits great serenity."

Cars honked their horns as the news spread and television announcers screamed with elation and surprise.

There was excitement as well elsewhere.

At the St. Francis of Assisi church in the colonial Old San Juan district in Puerto Rico, church secretary Antonia Veloz exchanged jubilant high-fives with Jose Antonio Cruz, a Franciscan friar.

Cruz said he personally favored the Brazilian candidate, but was pleased with the outcome, saying the new pope would help revitalize the church.

"It's a huge gift for all of Latin America. We waited 20 centuries. It was worth the wait," said Cruz, wearing the brown cassock tied with a rope that is the signature of the Franciscan order. "Everyone from Canada down to Patagonia is going to feel blessed. This is an event."

"This is something exciting," the 50-year-old Veloz said of the new Argentine pope. "I'm speechless." In Santo Domingo, the bells pealed in the city's main cathedral in the colonial district.

In Panama City, public relations executive Nelsa Aponte said with teary eyes, "This made me cry, I had to get out my handkerchief."

"We have a new pastor, and for the first time, he is from Latin America."

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Catholics overjoyed at 1st Latin American pope

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Latin Americans burst into tears and cheers on Wednesday at news that an Argentine cardinal has become the first pope from the hemisphere, expressing hope that he will better understand the region that is home to more Catholics than any other.

Cars honked their horns through the streets of Argentina's capital and television announcers screamed with elation at the news that the cardinal they knew as Jorge Mario Bergoglio had become Pope Francis.

"It's incredible!" said Martha Ruiz, 60, who was weeping tears of emotion after learning that the cardinal she knew as Jorge Mario Bergoglio will now be Pope Francis.

She said she had been in many meetings with the cardinal and said, "He is a man who transmits great serenity."

Cars honked their horns as the news spread and television announcers screamed with elation and surprise and Catholics began flooding toward the cathedral, where Ana Maria Perez and a few dozen other women had been waiting for the announcement.

"He is going to be the pope of the street," she said, referring to Bergoglio's habit of taking the subways alongside working class Argentines.

"It's a huge gift for all of Latin America. We waited 20 centuries. It was worth the wait," said Jose Antonio Cruz, a Franciscan friar at the church of St. Francis of Assisi in the colonial Old San Juan district in Puerto Rico.

"Everyone from Canada down to Patagonia is going to feel blessed," he said after exchanging high-fives with church secretary Antonia Veloz.

Bergoglio's former spokesman, Guillermo Marco, told Argentina's TN television station that the new 76-year-old pope — who is also the first from the Jesuit order — "has enormous pastoral experience" with a humble bearing.

"You can count the occasions when he used a car with a chauffeur," Marco said. "His choices of life as cardinal have been to have a normal, common life."

That common touch, as the new pope issued his first words to the crowd, also drew the attention of Bishop Eugenio Lira, secretary-general of the Mexican Conference of Bishops.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing, when he started saying, 'Good afternoon,' just like someone saying hello to a friend," Lira said. "He will certainly be the pope who is closest to the people of Latin America. He knows the problems of Latin America very well."

Soledad Loaeza, a political science professor at the Colegio de Mexico who studies the church, said an Argentine pope was the logical choice. "First, Latin America is the most important region in the world for the church," but one where evangelical churches have been making inroads. "So it may also be an attempt to stop the decline in the number of Catholics."

For church leaders seeking growth, instead of the aging, declining congregations in Europe or the United States, "there are only two regions," Loaeza said: Africa and Latin America.

In Cuba, parish priest Gregorio Alvarez said he believes Pope Francis' background could lead the church to focus more on the ills afflicting humanity, and less on internal issues.

"One hopes that the church will be closer to the problems of humankind and not only the problems of the church," Alvarez said at the Jesus of Miramar Church in a leafy western suburb of Havana, where bells pealed following the announcement.

"Being Latin American gives him an advantage. He understands the problems of poverty, of violence, of manipulation of the masses," Alvarez said. "All that gives him experience for the job. ... He's one of the family."

For Marvin Cruz, a Catholic at the Parish of the Miraculous in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, the pope's "main challenge will be the fight against economic inequality, which is very strong here, and his training as a Jesuit will allow him to take it head on."

He also noted the erosion of church membership in the face of Protestant denominations and secularism. "I hope he calls those who have left and those without faith to the bosom of the church," he said.

The bishop at the head of Venezuela's church, the Rev. Diego Padron, remarked, "All of Latin America is dropping to its knees to pray, to thank God for this extraordinary gift that he has given us."

"I am convinced this pope will make extraordinary changes, beginning with his gestures today," Padron said, referring to Francis' bowing to the crowd at St. Peter's Square, "asking for a prayer, showing great humility and at the same time displaying a great change."

"Never has a pope been seen to ask for the blessing of the faithful and today, well, that's what the pope did."

For some of the poor, the choice has already brought benefits. Juan Carlos Alarcon, a 58-year-old street vendor, came to the Buenos Aires cathedral with a load of Argentine flags to sell.

"I have to take advantage of this historic moment to feed my family," he said.

But there was a tinge of regret for some who had been hoping for a Brazilian pope.

Bruno Scherer, the brother of Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer, sat by himself in a square behind the main Catholic church in the Scherer family's hometown of Toledo in southern Brazil.

"I think Odilo must be happy. He must have the feeling that he was left off the hook," Bruno Scherer told The Associated Press.

"I think that because of his age — he's still quite young — he wouldn't want to lose his liberty. He wants to keep traveling, taking photos, and doing his thing. ... Well, let's at least think that."

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Contributors to this report include Mark Stevenson in Mexico City; Jenny Barchfield in Toledo, Brazil; Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas, Venezuela; and Luis Henao in Santiago, Chile.

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