The Argentine bishops have said they are shocked by the death of the lawyer investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural centre in Buenos Aires in which 87 people were killed and 300 injured.
Alberto Nisman was found dead last week, shortly before he was due to present his evidence of alleged collaboration between the Argentine and Iranian governments over the bombing, widely believed to have been perpetrated by Iranian agents.
“We share the shock, confusion and uncertainty that Argentines are currently feeling,” said the bishops. Nisman’s death had been declared suicide but investigators later said they were unable to rule out murder.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who was among those implicated in Nisman’s report, said she believed he was killed by members of Argentina’s shadowy intelligence services, which she said were acting to undermine the Government. In a televised address she said she planned to dissolve the current intelligence secretariat.
A statement from the Executive Commission of the Bishops’ Conference, said “we trust in the state institutions to overcome the shadows of impunity which threaten the democratic health of the nation”, warning those institutions to proceed “with caution and calm”.
On Sunday the Archbishop of Cordoba, Carlos José Ñáñez also called for action. “We need to know the truth and that is the responsibility of our state powers,” said the archbishop in his homily, which was broadcast on the radio. He said there needed to be a “genuine separation” of state powers and “awareness that there is no absolute power”.
A further statement from the bishops last week warned Argentines against losing sight of Nisman’s original intention which was to get to the bottom of the bomb attack on the Jewish Amia Centre. Last year Pope Francis met relatives of the victims of the attack and used a televised address to demand justice.
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