Says a new book not in the hagiographic mode of some of Francis’ biographers — not specifically Peronist but in the mode of a hardball politico.
A common accusation against Father Bergoglio [now Pope Francis] was to be that he was a divisive figure as Provincial.
Given the state of the Province as he found it, with a party of highly political figures who had been dragging it to disaster, one might think that this was inevitable, or even a good thing; but the reports are that his methods were rather in the direction of exacting loyalty to himself and marginalising those who failed to toe the line.
My way or the highway is too common the way of governance in Latin America, especially in Francis’ native Argentina, where near-cultic loyalty to individuals often holds sway.
From Colonna, Marcantonio. The Dictator Pope (Kindle Locations 406-409). Kindle Edition.
Blithe Spirit 