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Pope Francis and US presidents: A look back at his legacy with the nation’s leaders

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U.S. presidents mourned the death of Pope Francis, who served as the leader of the Catholic Church for 12 years, on Monday following the Vatican’s announcement of the pope’s passing. 

«Rest in Peace Pope Francis!» President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday. «May God Bless him and all who loved him!»

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The College of Cardinals elected Pope Francis, 88, to serve as the pope following Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013. His election marked the first time a non-European served as pope in more than 1,000 years. Pope Francis, born with the name Jorge Mario Bergoglio, originally hailed from Argentina. 

Pope Francis, who was hospitalized in February due to complications stemming from bronchitis and pneumonia, died Monday at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. 

Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with Pope Francis on Sunday in one of the reception rooms of the Vatican hotel just hours before the pope’s death. Vance acknowledged the visit in a post on X Monday while expressing his condolences to Christians who loved the pope, and shared a link to the transcript of one of the pope’s 2020 homilies. 

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POPE FRANCIS DEAD AT 88, VATICAN SAYS

Pope Francis receives U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, before bestowing the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)

«My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill,» Vance said in a post on X on Monday. «But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul.»

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Trump also signed an executive order Monday ordering all U.S. flags be flown at half-staff on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels to remember Francis. The order also applies to all U.S. embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

Here’s a look at Pope Francis’ legacy with other U.S. leaders:

Barack Obama

Pope Francis met with former President Barack Obama at the Vatican in March 2014. The two met again in September of the following year during Pope Francis’ visit to the White House, where the pope delivered a statement urging action on climate change. Following his visit to the White House, Francis also visited New York City and Philadelphia. 

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Obama issued a statement Monday morning lauding the pope for his leadership. 

POPE FRANCIS EXPOSES CONFIDENTIAL DETAILS ABOUT HIS ELECTION AND RELATIONSHIPS IN LENGTHY INTERVIEW 

President Barack Obama and Pope Francis walk down the Colonnade before meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Sept. 23, 2015. 

President Barack Obama and Pope Francis walk down the Colonnade before meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Sept. 23, 2015. 

«In his humility and his gestures at once simple and profound – embracing the sick, ministering to the homeless, washing the feet of young prisoners – he shook us out of our complacency and reminded us that we are all bound by moral obligations to God and one another,» Obama said in a post on X Monday morning. 

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«Today, Michelle and I mourn with everyone around the world – Catholic and non-Catholic alike – who drew strength and inspiration from the Pope’s example,» Obama said. «May we continue to heed his call to ‘never remain on the sidelines of this march of living hope.’»

Donald Trump

Trump met with Pope Francis in 2017 during a trip to the Vatican, and told reporters later that they had a «fantastic meeting.» However, the two remained at odds with one another over Trump’s border policies for the last decade. 

«A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,» Pope Francis said in February 2016 amid Trump’s push on the campaign trail to build a border wall and crack down on illegal immigration. 

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Pope Francis obituary, file image of the dead pontiff

Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump in the Private Library of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on May 24, 2017. (Vatican/Pool/Galazka/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori via Getty Images)

In response, Trump said: «For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful.»

Pope Francis routinely issued similar statements, and in February penned a letter to U.S. Catholic bishops and voiced concern about the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans. 

«The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness,» Pope Francis said in the letter. 

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Joe Biden

Former President Joe Biden, the second Catholic U.S. president, visited the Vatican in October 2021, where he and Pope Francis met to discuss topics including climate change and advocacy for the poor, according to a readout of the meeting. 

Biden had previously met Pope Francis on several other occasions, including during the pope’s visit to the U.S. in 2015. 

Biden also met with Pope Francis in June at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Apulia, Italy, where the two discussed the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, according to a readout of the meeting. 

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Pope Francis meets Joe Biden and and Jill Biden

Pope Francis meets President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 29, 2021 in Vatican City, Vatican.  (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

Biden, who awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January, described him as a «consequential» leader on Monday who was a «Pope for everyone.» 

«He was unlike any who came before him,» Biden said in a post on X Monday morning. «Pope Francis will be remembered as one of the most consequential leaders of our time and I am better for having known him. For decades, he served the most vulnerable across Argentina and his mission of serving the poor never ceased. As Pope, he was a loving pastor and challenging teacher who reached out to different faiths.»

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Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

Pope Francis,White House,Vatican News & Updates,Trump’s First 100 Days,Donald Trump

INTERNACIONAL

El papa Francisco, objetivo de la desinformación y las teorías conspirativas a lo largo de su pontificado

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La figura del papa Francisco, quien ha fallecido este lunes a los 88 años, ha sido a lo largo de su pontificado objeto de desinformación que en algunos casos buscaba dibujarle como un peligro para las tradiciones de la Iglesia Católica y, en otros, utilizaba su imagen para defender postulados de la doctrina eclesiástica.

En numerosas ocasiones, su postura y sus reformas, a las que se opuso siempre el área más ultraconservadora de la Iglesia, han sido tergiversadas en redes en un intento de presentar a Francisco como un papa radical al servicio de una «agenda globalista» que quiere acabar con la cultura occidental.

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En pleno auge de la inteligencia artificial, en redes se viralizaron unas imágenes del pontífice, generadas con estas herramientas, en las que aparecía saludando a un «sacerdote satánico».

«Católicos critican al papa Francisco por haber saludado a un sacerdote satánico en Bérgamo», aseveraban algunos usuarios que, pese a los fallos de las imágenes, las difundieron como reales.

Asimismo, las redes han vinculado al papa con viejas teorías de la conspiración para acusarle de imponer, dentro y fuera de la Iglesia Católica, los preceptos de la élite globalista a la que, según estos mensajes, sirven personajes tan dispares como los multimillonarios Bill Gates o George Soros o los Illuminati.

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En foros estadounidenses surgió este año la falsa afirmación de que Francisco había pedido la creación de un «gobierno global» para someter a la población, una afirmación que cruzó fronteras y circuló en diversos idiomas.

En realidad, esos mensajes tergiversaban el discurso del papa por el Día mundial de la Paz, en el que hizo un llamamiento a los países ricos a condonar las deudas de los Estados pobres y a desarrollar una «nueva arquitectura financiera, que conduzca a la creación de un Documento financiero global, basado en la solidaridad y la armonía de los pueblos».

Su mensaje, lejos de pedir la implementación de un «gobierno mundial», volvía a ahondar una vez más en el compromiso de Francisco con los más desfavorecidos.

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Gran revuelo causó la decisión del papa de que los sacerdotes pudieran bendecir a parejas «en situación irregular» o del mismo sexo, lo que llevó a numerosos internautas a afirmar falsamente que la Iglesia había legalizado las bodas homosexuales.

Poco antes de esta medida, se viralizaron mensajes que decían que Francisco había instado a «las mujeres europeas» a reproducirse con «inmigrantes musulmanes» para «combatir la baja tasa de natalidad», unas declaraciones que los usuarios difundían como prueba de la existencia de la teoría del «Gran reemplazo», la cual defiende que los gobiernos europeos impulsan políticas para sustituir la población autóctona por personas de África y países árabes.

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Los viajes de Francisco

Todos los destinos que visitó fuera de Italia, en sus 47 viajes apostólicos. Recorrió 60 países.

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Tocá para explorar el contenido


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Fuente: Vaticano | AFP
Infografía: Clarín

Estas publicaciones tergiversaron una entrevista al diario católico francés La Croix que Francisco concedió en 2016 y en la que señaló la importancia de integrar a los inmigrantes que llegan a Europa, sin mencionar nada acerca de que las mujeres deban reproducirse con «inmigrantes musulmanes».

En la misma línea, otros contenidos viralizados en redes sociales en estos años han acusado al papa de «cancelar» la Biblia e intentar sustituirla por un «nuevo libro sagrado» o de cambiar la festividad de la Navidad por la «Fiesta de la Paz».

Por otro lado, la desinformación también utilizó su figura para ensalzar los valores cristianos. Así, las pasadas Navidades circuló un vídeo cuyo audio fue manipulado con inteligencia artificial para atribuirle falsamente unas declaraciones sobre «el verdadero sentido de la Navidad«, en las que reivindicó a Jesucristo frente a Papá Noel.

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El ingreso hospitalario del papa fue el último caso de desinformación sobre el pontífice que EFE Verifica detectó y desmintió. Entonces, en redes se viralizó una supuesta imagen de Francisco dentro del hospital Gemelli de Roma, en el que ingresó el 14 de febrero a causa de una neumonía bilateral.

En la imagen aparece el papa Francisco vestido con una sotana y solideo blanco, recostado en una camilla con un respirador que cubre su boca y nariz.

Las diversas inconsistencias que presenta la imagen —con fallos en texturas y formas— no impidieron que se diseminara por distintas redes sociales, una muestra del potencial de las herramientas de inteligencia artificial para generar desinformación.

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INTERNACIONAL

Mexican sewage gushing into Navy SEAL training waters is US’ ‘next Camp Lejeune,’ vets warn

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«Disgusting,» said Navy SEAL veteran Rob Sweetman in describing the smell and mist of Mexican sewage spewing into U.S. waters as he stood on a hill overlooking the Tijuana River estuary in California.

Sweetman, a Navy veteran who served on the SEALs for eight years, spoke to Fox News Digital to sound the alarm on a water crisis rocking the San Diego area, including where SEALs train, taking a camera with him to show viewers firsthand how the contaminated water flows into the U.S. 

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Just one mile away from where Sweetman spoke, SEALs and candidates train in the same water, which has sickened more than 1,000 candidates in a five-year period, per a Department of Defense watchdog report released in February.

San Diego and the surrounding area are in a clean-water crisis that has raged for decades, but it is finding revived concern from the Trump administration as SEALs and local veterans warn of a «national security crisis» that they say is on par with the Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, water crisis.

Thousands of Marines and others were sickened  at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune base between 1953 and 1987 as a result of water contaminated by industrial solvents used to drink, bathe and cook at the training facilities and on-base housing. 

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EPA CHIEF TAKES ON MEXICAN ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FLOWING INTO US WATERS WHERE NAVY SEALS TRAIN

Navy SEAL training

The Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) class participates in a surf passage training exercise at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in Coronado, California.  (Getty Images)

Kate Monroe, a Marine Corps veteran and CEO of VetComm — which advocates for disabled veterans and those navigating the VA’s complicated health system — told Fox Digital in an April Zoom interview, «San Diego County is as big as some states. It’s giant. Millions of people live here and are breathing the air of this water. It goes well beyond the military. It’s a crisis. It’s a FEMA-level travesty, and we have just been hiding it.» 

The Navy has deep roots in the San Diego area, with the United States Naval Special Warfare Command headquartered in America’s Finest City and where Navy SEAL candidates complete their arduous six-month Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.

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BUD/S training

Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January 2019 and May 2023 alone.  (Jeff Gum)

The sewage problem flowing from neighboring Mexico into the U.S. has percolated in San Diego for years. 

But the water crisis hit crisis level when it was reported in 2024 that 44 billion gallons of contaminated water imbued with raw sewage was released along the California coast in 2023, the most on record since at least 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. 

The issue of sewage water flowing into U.S. waters is largely attributed to outdated wastewater infrastructure across the southern border, local media outlets recently reported, with Mexico reportedly in the midst of addressing its infrastructure to curb the leaks of sewage water. 

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The Tijuana River has for decades been plagued by sewage and waste that has affected its beaches and neighboring San Diego.

In February, the Department of Defense’s inspector general released a report finding that the Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January 2019 and May 2023 alone. 

SEALs Hell Week

Navy SEAL trainees are shown during Hell Week. (Getty Images)

«Navy SEAL candidate exposure to contaminated water occurred because (Naval Special Warfare Command) did not follow San Diego County’s Beach and Bay Water Quality Program’s beach closure postings,» the inspector general report found. «As a result of Navy SEAL candidate exposure to contaminated water during training, candidates are presented with increased health risks and NAVSPECWARCOM’s training mission could be impacted.»

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‘IBS, GERD, skin issues, weird cancers’ 

It was when Monroe, who is well-versed with veteran health through VetComm, was working with SEALs who were retiring that she realized the severity of the San Diego water pollution of the past few years.

She observed an increase in health claims related to intestinal issues and «weird cancers,» which was a departure from typical claims related to PTSD or orthopedic ailments.

US SENATOR BLASTS PRESIDENT OF MEXICO, SAYS TOXIC SEWAGE DUMP THREATENS ‘NATIONAL SECURITY’

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«I started creating relationships with the SEAL teams, the people that were exiting the SEALs, you know, at 14 years, 20 years, nearing their retirement,» Monroe told Fox News Digital. «And the claims that we were making for these guys were surprising to me because a lot of them, they have combat PTSD, a lot of orthopedic issues. But we were having guys coming to us with, like, IBS, GERD, skin issues, weird cancers, and they were all attributing it to their time spent in San Diego training to be a SEAL in that water here that we have in San Diego.»

Swimming and spending time in water contaminated with feces can lead to a host of illnesses, including bacterial, viral and parasitic infections that leave people nauseous, vomiting and rushing to the bathroom. 

Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum was only days from entering the SEAL’s aptly named Hell Week — the fourth week of basic conditioning for SEAL candidates — when nausea hit him. He was trapped in a cycle of drinking water and vomiting when he realized a serious illness had its grips on him. 

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Gum is a retired SEAL who served from 2007 to 2017 and was exposed to the contaminated water in 2008 during BUD/S training off the San Diego coast. 

Jeff Gum

Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum (Jeff Gum)

«I couldn’t stop,» Gum recounted of how he couldn’t keep water down without vomiting. «You never really want to go to medical because they can pull you out or make you get rolled to the next class, but I couldn’t even drink water without throwing up. It’s the only time in my whole life that this has happened.»

Gum’s nausea overcame him on a Friday in 2008, with Hell Week kicking off that Sunday night. Hell Week is a more than five-day training that puts candidates through rigorous training, including cold-water immersion, «surf torture,» buoy swims, mud runs, all while operating on minimal sleep. 

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SAN DIEGO SUBURB FACES ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FROM LOCAL BEACH

Jeff Gum

Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum in Iraq.  (Jeff Gum)

«The sun goes down, and the instructors come out with big machine guns, that kicks it off,» Gum said of how Hell Week began. «We run out to the beach, right into the ocean. You spend the rest of the week soaking wet, covered in sand. And everywhere you go, you have a 200-pound boat on your head that you and your boat crew of six to seven guys will share the weight of, and you just run everywhere.»

Hell Week training

Hell Week training for the SEALs includes carrying boats. (Getty Images)

«You’re just in the water. There’s no escaping it. It’s part of what makes BUD/S BUD/S. And it’s part of what makes the Navy SEALs America’s premier maritime special operators,» he said. «There’s not getting around how comfortable we have to be in the water. Cold, wet, miserable, doesn’t matter, we suck it up and we do it.» 

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MEXICO IS POISONING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN A BORDER CRISIS ALMOST NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT

Gum received IVs the weekend ahead of Hell Week and was able to keep food and water down by the time the intense training began, but he had been diagnosed with viral gastroenteritis, commonly known as the stomach flu and highly contagious, which then morphed into rhabdomyolysis due to exerting so much energy while dehydrated from viral gastroenteritis

Rhabdomyolysis is a serious illness that causes muscle to break down quickly and can lead to «muscle death» and the release of high levels of myoglobin in the blood that can injure a person’s kidneys.

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Mexico-California border

The border fence between Imperial Beach near San Ysidro, California, right, and Playas de Tijuana near Tijuana, Mexico.  (Getty Images)

Gum failed the first phase of BUD/S, but he was granted permission to return to training for a second time after senior leaders saw he had viral gastroenteritis. Gum again went through the first phase of BUD/S, but again he went to medical, where tests showed that his «blood came back toxic» from rhabdomyolysis.

The SEAL was put on medical leave and able to fully recover in his home state of Pennsylvania before he «crushed» the hellish training on his third try. He served on SEAL Team Five, deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, and taught combatives and prisoner handling to SEAL trainees in San Diego from 2013 until his retirement in 2017.

Sweetman told Fox Digital that «everyone who goes through training is going to get sick.»

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Ariel view of San Diego

Tijuana, Mexico, top, and San Diego (Getty Images)

«They’re going to get infections, and it’s terrible,» Sweetman told Fox Digital in an April Zoom interview. «And some might argue that this is Navy SEAL training. You have to go through the toughest conditions to be able to survive and make it. I would say that it’s gotten a little bit out of hand.» 

The SEAL vet, who lives in the San Diego area, said the issue has gotten worse in recent years as Tijuana’s population grows.

I TRAINED WITH THE NAVY SEALS FOR A DAY. THIS IS WHAT I LEARNED

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«When I went through training, it was absolutely a thing that they’d shut down the Imperial Beach because the ocean water was so bad, because the waste coming from Tijuana had infected the water,» Sweetman said. «You could always smell it. And oftentimes, even in the bay, we’d need to wash our wet suit after being out on a swim.»

Rob Sweetman

Rob Sweetman served eight years as a Navy SEAL.  (Rob Sweetman)

«Now, some of the training causes us to be deeply immersed in the water, and infections and all types of things can come up from being in the water. But I’ll say that it has gotten significantly worse as the population has doubled in Tijuana.»

Dirty water in San Diego

Raw sewage from Tijuana is flowing into the San Diego area, causing illness to spread among SEALs and candidates. (Rob Sweetman)

‘A huge national crisis’ 

Gum and Monroe both said that water issue is a crisis, with Gum identifying it as a national security crisis that could cull well-suited candidates from the SEALs due to acute illnesses as well as sicken active SEALs. 

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«This is a huge national crisis,» he said. «Like half the SEAL teams are located in San Diego, the other half are in Virginia Beach. So when you’ve got half the SEAL teams who are getting exposed to this, then it’s a major issue.» 

Monroe called it the «next Camp Lejeune» crisis, which sickened Marines with contaminated drinking water at the North Carolina Marine Corps base camp for nearly three decades. The crisis has cost the U.S. billions of dollars, including legal costs and settlements to vets and their families. 

«This is going to be, in my opinion, the next Camp Lejeune water problem that cost our government $21 to $25 billion,» she said. «That’s just in the compensation directly, like the lawsuit portion of it. That doesn’t cover all the compensation you have to pay these veterans tax-free for the rest of their lives. I would say that this issue here in San Diego, if you look at it over the time that people have been training here, you’re looking at another $21 to $25 billion, plus all of the compensation that’s going to come. It would be cheaper for our country to fix this than it would to allow it to continue.» 

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The three veterans who spoke to Fox Digital all responded with optimism that the Trump administration will tackle the crisis and end it. 

WILL CAIN, NAVY SEALS HONORS VETERANS AT 2024 NYC SEAL SWIM

Fox Digital exclusively reported earlier in April that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is heading to San Diego to meet with SEALs and see the crisis firsthand April 22, 2025.

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Lee Zeldin

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is heading to San Diego to meet with SEALs and see the water firsthand April 22, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

«The raw sewage flowing from Mexico into the Tijuana River is creating serious, detrimental issues for communities with affected waterways,» Zeldin told Fox Digital ahead of the Tuesday trip.  

«Ensuring America’s waters are clean is part of EPA’s core mission, and I look forward to being on the ground in San Diego in a few days to assess the situation and hear directly from those affected,» he said. «It is top-of-mind knowing that as this issue persists, more and more Navy SEALs remain at risk of sickness because of the contaminated waterways they train in. I strongly believe the time has come to finalize and implement an urgent strategy to end decades of raw sewage entering the U.S.» 

Navy SEALs training

BUD/S students participate in SEAL training at the Naval Special Warfare Center, Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado, California.  (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Naval Special Warfare added in a comment to Fox News Digital that SEALs and candidates’ health are a top priority and that officials are monitoring water quality in areas where they train.  

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«The Navy takes the health and safety of our personnel very seriously,» the spokesperson said. «Water quality at Navy training locations on the beach waterfront is closely monitored in coordination with local authorities. We are fully committed to ensuring warfighters at U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command train in a safe environment.» 

Sewage in US

Mexican sewage flows into the U.S. (Rob Sweetman)

Ahead of Zeldin’s visit, the water flowing from Mexico into the U.S. is as «nasty» as ever, according to Sweetman. 

«What I see here is a tremendous amount of green, nasty water,» Sweetman said while pointing at the murky water. «I mean, you can smell it. This is disgusting. As it pours through, it doesn’t clear up. There’s no clarity to it. It just turns into a foam. And the foam sits on top of the water where it’s murky and it just continues to flow towards Imperial Beach and the ocean down here.»

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«It’s absolutely disgusting. I can’t comment strongly enough about how bad it is to be here. I’m here specifically because I want people to see just how bad it is,» he said. «The moment that I leave here, I’m going to go take a shower.»

US Navy,California,Mexico,MILITARY,National Security,Politics,Donald Trump,Lee Zeldin

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INTERNACIONAL

Francisco, el pontífice argentino que soñaba con revolucionar la Iglesia católica

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El 13 de marzo de 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, arzobispo de Buenos Aires, se convirtió en el papa Francisco. El primer pontífice latinoamericano y primer papa jesuita salió al balcón de la basílica del Vaticano, rogando por un mundo más solidario. “Rezamos por todo el mundo, para que sea una gran hermandad”, fueron sus primeras palabras públicas.

El planeta descubría cuán atípico era el nuevo Obispo de Roma, hijo de italianos inmigrantes del Piemonte, hincha ferviente del club San Lorenzo y aferrado al concepto de llevar Iglesia a “las periferias”.

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Carnet de socio de San Lorenzo (Foto: Prensa Club San Lorenzo / AFP)

“El concepto era que la Iglesia Católica encerrada tenía que salir de sí misma”, explica Francesca Ambrogetti, periodista y primera biógrafa de Bergoglio. “Su habitación en el arzobispado de Buenos Aires era despojada, sencilla, humilde. Cualidades que lo acompañaron en todo su recorrido eclesiástico y humano”.

Leé también: El transformador papado de Francisco: del combate a los abusos clericales a las reformas inconclusas

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Jorge Mario Bergoglio vivió la dictadura de Videla. A partir de 1976, curas y monjas fueron víctimas de la represión. Conocidos y cercanos a Francisco fueron desaparecidos, algunos asesinados en los vuelos de la muerte. Tras su elección volvieron a surgir críticas sobre si hizo lo suficiente para proteger a los que acudieron a él.

El pontífice “ni con la familia hablaba de esto”, asegura Ambrogetti. En su autobiografía, Francisco luego explicó haber ofrecido su hospitalidad a dos curas desaparecidos.

El papa tomó el nombre de Francisco de Asís, el santo fundador de la Orden Franciscana, quien vivió observando un estricto voto de pobreza. De hecho, lo apodaron el Papa de los curas villeros por su cercanía a ese movimiento de sacerdotes comprometidos en las villas miseria de Argentina.

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“Para él era importante que el sacerdote vaya a atender los sectores más necesitados”, recuerda el padre Pepe Di Paola, quien forma parte de lo que en Argentina llaman los sacerdotes de Villas y Barrios Populares, y amigo del papa. “Él mismo se hacía presente en las villas, mirando la realidad de Buenos Aires desde allá, desde los sectores más marginados y no desde su catedral”.

En más de una década de pontificado, el papa Francisco jamás visitó a su tierra natal.

Migración y corrupción

En 2013, la isla de Lampedusa fue el foco de una de las peores crisis humanitarias y migratorias, con cientas de personas atravesando el Mediterráneo en botes para alcanzar sus orillas y otras cientas falleciendo en el intento. Francisco escogió Lampedusa como primera visita pontifical. “La cultura del bienestar nos vuelve insensibles a los gritos ajenos”, dijo a su llegada.

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“Bergoglio llega al papado conociendo la realidad de la migración, que existía en las villas argentinas”, apunta Ambrogetti.

Un año antes de tomar las riendas del Vaticano, se destapó el mayor escándalo de corrupción y tráfico de influencia. Esta fuga de documentos sobre su gestión financiera, conocida como Vatileaks, sacudió la Curia romana.

Memorial en la iglesia Santa Catalina de San Petersburgo  (Foto: Olga MALTSEVA / AFP)

Memorial en la iglesia Santa Catalina de San Petersburgo (Foto: Olga MALTSEVA / AFP)

“Fue votado en un cónclave por una serie de cardenales de la periferia. Querían un papa con una trayectoria lejana al Vaticano, que no estuviera relacionada con los escándalo”, explica Vicenç Lozano es autor de Intrigas y poder en el Vaticano.

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Francisco creó en 2014 un Secretariado para la Economía que aplicaría medidas anticorrupción. Cerró 5.000 cuentas del Banco del Vaticano. “Se consideraba un banco que realizaba blanqueo de dinero y el Vaticano era considerado un paraíso fiscal”, asegura Lozano.

Abusos sexuales

La lucha contra la pedofilia en la Iglesia católica marcó el papado de Francisco de principio a fin. El papa puso en pie una comisión internacional de expertos, expulsó a un buen número de prelados y varias veces pidió disculpas pero sin jamás hablar de un problema sistémico y estructural, apoyando a veces a prelados encubridores.

El caso de la Iglesia de Chile fue emblemático, así como la decepción que conllevó el respaldo que Francisco otorgó al obispo Juan Barros, acusado de haber protegido al sacerdote Fernando Karadima.

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A Karadima, el Vaticano lo sentenció a una vida de penitencia y oración. Francisco no lo expulsó del sacerdocio sino hasta 2018. Ese mismo año, también nombró a Juan Barros obispo, rechazando las acusaciones contra él y desatando manifestaciones en Chile.

“Respaldó por la confianza que tenía en algunas personas. Pero como sea, esta Iglesia de hoy está mucho más comprometida con la lucha contra la pedofilia”, dice Francesca Ambrogetti.

El papa “verde”

El mundo recordará a Jorge Mario Bergoglio como el papa de la ecología. Su encíclica de 2015, titulada Laudato Si, está dedicada al planeta, que el pontífice denominó “nuestra casa común”, y a su conservación.

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Francisco organizó en 2019 un sínodo de la Amazonía, denunciando “el neoextractivismo y la fuerte presión por grandes intereses económicos que apuntan su avidez sobre petróleo, gas, madera, oro y monocultivos agroindustriales”.

“Al interesarse en ese tema fue absolutamente novedoso”, resalta su biógrafa. “Siempre volviendo a lo humano: dañar el medio ambiente agudiza las injusticias”. Entre periodistas, se comentaba desde el inicio de su pontificado: “Va a seguir diciendo las cosas de siempre pero Dios le regaló un megáfono”.

Autobiografia del Papa traducida al coreano en Seúl (Foto: Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

Autobiografia del Papa traducida al coreano en Seúl (Foto: Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

Esa reverberación alcanzó las nuevas generaciones, en una comunidad católica que nunca ha tenido tan pocos feligreses jóvenes. “Esa encíclica para mí fue revolucionaria, nunca había visto el tema del clima como un tema colectivo”, recuerda Susana Salguero, salvadoreña y vocera del Movimiento Laudato Si de acción climática, que reúne a miles de jóvenes entorno a la ecología. Explica que la encíclica la llevó a reconectar con su fe. “No basta con ser creyente y rezar, sino que hay que tomar acción”.

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“Este eco encontró oídos favorables y oídos desfavorables”, añade Francesca Ambrogetti, señalando las resistencias que han surgido en el ala más conservadora de la Iglesia, en especial en Estados Unidos. “Ahí hay una resistencia importante”.

Resistencias en el sector conservador

Francisco escribió en su autobiografía que imaginaba una Iglesia que “acogiera a personas homosexuales y transexuales” que buscaran a Dios. Autorizó la bendición de parejas de mismo sexo y que personas transgénero pudieran ser padrinos de bautismo, pero recordando a la vez su posición: que las cirugías de reasignación de género, el aborto y la eutanasia “violaban la dignidad humana”.

También rechazó la ordenación de mujeres diaconisas en momentos en que pedían ampliar su responsabilidad en la Iglesia.

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Dio pasos adelante pero no salió corriendo”, detalla Ambrogetti. “Hay cargos que históricamente no ocupaban mujeres” antes, como el de secretaria general del Governatorato, directora del Museo del Vaticano o prefecta del Dicasterio para la Vida Consagrada, un “ministerio” de la Curia. “Es la Iglesia que él quería”.

El balance de Francisco se debate entre facciones progresistas y conservadoras de la curia, según explica en su libro Vaticangate, el periodista español Vicenç Lozano.

“Hay mucha reticencia en los sectores más tradicionalistas”, apunta. “De cara un próximo cónclave, Francisco ha nombrado al 60% del colegio de cardenales actual. Tienen un carácter similar al del papa Francisco, a favor de las reformas y del castigo ejemplar contra los que ejercen un abuso poder – de abusos sexuales y de corrupción’, dice.

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Hasta la última hora

En sus últimos tiempos como papa, desde el hospital Jorge Mario Bergoglio destituyó a un obispo acusado de abusos y se comunicó con el Padre Romanelli de la Iglesia de la Sagrada Familia en Gaza.

Explica que en los últimos dos años en pontífice ha intentado acelerar sus reformas ante la creciente resistencia de parte del sector conservador, que Lozano acusa de fomentar una campaña de desprestigio contra Francisco y sus seguidores en la Curia.

 Jorge Mario Bergoglio ha sido criticado tanto en el bando conservador como en el ala progresista por ser autoritario y por centralizar el poder en la Curia.

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El Papa Francisco tomando mate en la plaza de San Pedro. (Foto: ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP)

El Papa Francisco tomando mate en la plaza de San Pedro. (Foto: ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP)

Al inicio de su papado, había firmado su renuncia, prometiendo dimitir el día en que le fallaran las fuerzas, pero rápidamente dio marcha atrás a pesar de su frágil salud. Francisco ha siguió el camino de los papas anteriores a Benedicto XVI: permanecer como papa hasta su último aliento.

El domingo, pocas horas antes de su muerte, apareció en público en el Vaticano para desear una feliz Pascua a los católicos, y se reunió con el vicepresidente estadounidense, JD Vance.

El próximo cónclave sin duda servirá para confirmar si sigue válido el dicho: “los papas vienen y van, pero la Curia permanece”. Los que lo conocieron insisten en que su pontificado pasará a la historia.

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Papa Francisco, RFI

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