BUENOS AIRES — Arch-traditionalist Catholics stormed the central Cathedral of Buenos Aires, shouting slogans and praying loudly during an Holocaust memorial service Tuesday night that had long been a ceremony led by the future Pope Francis.
The Argentine daily Clarin reported that a crowd of mostly young people suddenly interrupted a mixed-faith event marking the 75th anniversary of “Kristallnacht,” the infamous Night of Broken Glass, which in 1938 initiated the Nazi regime’s murderous persecution of Jews.
The demonstrators, including at least one priest, shouted slogans against the presence of Jews in a Catholic church, and began to loudly recite Christian prayers when the Archbishop of Buenos Aires Mario Poli — who succeeded the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio — sought to inaugurate the service, the Argentine news agency Télam reported.
The members of the group spread leaflets, denouncing “the worshippers of false gods” and “wolves parading as shepherds” they said were misleading the congregation about God.
Congregation members including officials, diplomats and members of the Jewish community protested, but members of the Federal Police present did not intervene, Clarin reported.
Archbishop Poli told Jewish members of the congregation, “dear Jewish brothers consider yourselves at home, because that is our desire as Christians, in spite of the traces of intolerance. Your presence here does not demystify God’s temple. Let us undertake this meeting in peace, as desired by Pope Francis.”
During the Kristallnacht rampage, between Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, more than 90 Jews were killed by thugs and paramilitaries marauding the streets in several German and Austrian cities, as bystanders watched thousands of businesses being burned and ransacked. Up to 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
