Argentine group proposes Francis for Nobel Prize

Relatives and friends of victims of the worst attack on Jews since World War II in Buenos Aires in 1994 are nominating Pope Francis for the Nobel Prize for Peace, Vatican Insider reports.

The group made the announcement after a 90-minute private audience with Pope Francis, during which he expressed support for their effort to find out the truth about the attack that happened nineteen years ago, and obtain justice.

The attack took place on the morning of July 18, 1994. A car bomb destroyed the AMIA, (Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina), a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, leaving 85 dead and 300 wounded.  

It was the deadliest terrorist attack ever in Argentina's history and came just two years after the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy there. 

An official Argentinean government report in 2006 identified Iranian and Hezbollah figures as responsible for the attack but to-date no one has been brought to justice.

'Count on me', the Pope told them during the meeting. He encouraged them to continue their efforts because 'this is the only way' and 'it is necessary to arrive at the real truth as quickly as possible, which will take us to justice'.

It is 'only in this way that you can have the peace you seek', he told them.

At the time of the bombing, the then-Bishop Bergoglio was an auxiliary in Buenos Aires, but he was the first public figure to sign a petition condemning the attack and calling for justice.  

Leaders of Argentina’s 250,000 Jews - most of them live in Buenos Aires, consider him a friend and are grateful for his solidarity then and his ongoing support. 

Jewish community leaders around the world noted that his words and actions "showed solidarity with the Jewish community" in the aftermath of that deadly attack.