Francis, “the Peronist Pope”

It is no surprise that Pope Francis has often been associated with Peronism, to the point that he has been referred to on several occasions as a "Peronist Pope." Furthermore, when links were established between him and this political movement, he was associated with a specific group within Peronism, the "Iron Guard." However, in general, it is mentioned superficially, without truly delving into this relationship. Therefore, here we attempt to consider, albeit briefly, the characteristics of this group and what the recently deceased pontiff's relationships with Peronism in general and with the aforementioned organization in particular actually were.

To begin, it should be noted that the 1960s saw a significant process of political radicalization, with numerous groups of young people gravitating toward Peronism, especially in the second half of that decade. Various groups were formed within the movement, each with different (and even opposing) positions. The Iron Guard was one of them, and it exhibited characteristics that set it apart from others.

Iron Guard. Among these distinguishing features is the very name of the group, as it can lead to misunderstandings. The name GH (Iron Guard) evokes another political formation, as it is the same as that of a Romanian organization with a fascist, ultranationalist, clericalist, and anti-Semitic character, which later became a political party and existed from 1927 to 1941. Its members wore green uniforms and greeted each other with the characteristic "Roman salute," like other European fascist movements, and its leader was Corneliu Codreanu. However, it should be noted that the Argentine GH had no relationship with this Romanian movement.

The main leaders of GH in our country were Héctor Tristán and, especially, Alejandro Álvarez, known as "the Galician Álvarez." In Alejandro Tarruella's book, Guardia de Hierro. De Perón a Bergoglio, Álvarez is characterized as follows: "He typified a man from the slums of Buenos Aires, shaped by the characteristics of the 1930s and 1940s. His ideas gave rise to Guardia de Hierro, the first version of which dates from late 1961 (...). His relationship with Peronism had begun years earlier at the UES (Union of Secondary Students), which he joined at the Nacional Avellaneda school in the Palermo neighborhood."

The ideology of the GH also had unique characteristics. There were Peronist groups that were more or less clear about where they stood on the right or left of the ideological spectrum (for example, the Organization Command or the Montoneros). However, the same was not true of the GH, because while it maintained relations with sectors of both the left and the right, it was not easily assimilable to them. Although the Montoneros sector could be considered right-wing, in the aforementioned text, Tarruella maintains that this was not the case: "The right in Peronism, however, was the Organization Command, led by Alberto Brito Lima, and not the Iron Guard. Within the Guard, they said that the Montoneros emerged to occupy the leading role of the classic leftist space without having a solid project for building power, which considered the organization of the people to support the return of the General." For the "guardians," the important thing was grassroots work in the neighborhoods to achieve doctrinal training among their cadres. Therefore, they understood that what needed to be done was to incorporate the community by organizing it to act alongside the union and university fronts.

GH's unique political position allowed its members to combine a wide variety of readings, both religious and political. Indeed, they were able to naturally include authors as diverse as Hernández Arregui, Teilhard de Chardin, Frantz Fanon, Mao Zedong, and Von Clausewitz.

The organization's core was a clear unifying idea: loyalty to Perón and his doctrine, without any trappings (right-wing or left-wing). This was its firm purpose, with Peronist doctrine and Perón's leadership considered a kind of religious belief. Evidence that loyalty to the leader was what motivated the group was that, at the direction of Alejandro Álvarez, the group dissolved in 1974 shortly after Perón's death.

Bergoglio and Peronism. Turning now to the other aspect, Jorge Bergoglio's relationship with Peronism in general and with the GH in particular, it is worth remembering the situation the Society of Jesus was experiencing in Argentina in the 1970s, when Bergoglio assumed the role of Provincial of the Order. In 1969, Ricardo O'Farrell took control of the Order, and in the third year of his mandate, he renewed his mandate for three more years. However, various internal sectors of the Jesuits were dissatisfied with O'Farrell's direction, and Rome finally agreed to remove him. Then, after the pertinent consultations, Jorge Bergoglio was elected to lead the Provincial of the Society of Jesus for our country, and he assumed leadership of the Order in July 1973. A significant aspect is the age at which he assumed such a high position, 36, which gives an idea of ​​his early influence.

Specifically, those Jesuits who had expressed their disagreement with the previous provincial and would support Bergoglio were guided by the so-called "Theology of the People" (TdP). As Marcelo Larraquy points out in his book Código Francisco (2016), this orientation was in some ways connected with Peronism: "The pastoral line was defined by the TdP, which found its political-theological translation in Peronism. They revived the concept of "organized society," as the TdP did with the Church-people relationship, and adopted the category "people-anti-people" for historical analysis, rejecting the liberal historiographical vision produced by the power elite."

On the other hand, regarding the relationship between Bergoglio and GH, while it is undeniable that there was a strong connection between him and the group, it should be noted that he did not directly belong to it. However, it can be said that the future Pope was particularly influenced by the most prominent intellectual associated with the organization, the philosopher Amelia Podetti. She taught at the University of El Salvador between 1970 and 1979, coinciding with the time when Bergoglio was provincial of the Order. Furthermore, a book by Podetti on Hegel had a prologue written by the future Pope.

Likewise, regarding the relationship between Bergoglio and GH, the events surrounding USAL (Universidad del Salvador) must be considered. It was a Jesuit-run university. However, in 1975, under Bergoglio's provincialship (1973-1979), the Society of Jesus entrusted its leadership to a group of laypeople, who assumed the responsibility of preserving the university's identity. It was then that members of GH took over the leadership of the institution, with the rector, Francisco Piñón, being a member of this group.

In short, it's clear that the Pope maintained a close relationship with the GH, but this doesn't mean he was an organic member of it. Furthermore, regarding his relationship with Peronism, it's worth considering Marcelo Larraquy's assertion in the aforementioned book: "Bergoglio was, before being a political activist of a religious order or a sociologist of religion, a parish pastor and a theologian of popular religiosity."

*Bachelor of Arts (UBA), PhD in Social Sciences (UBA). IG @carloscampora01