Estela de Carlotto asks Pope Leo to support search for missing grandchildren

Estela de Carlotto, leader of Argentine human rights organization Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, asked Pope Leo XIV to “commit” to supporting the search for grandchildren who were stolen during the country’s last military dictatorship.

De Carlotto handed the pontiff a letter containing her request after he celebrated his last outdoor mass, attended by a large crowd at the Luján Basilica, in Buenos Aires province, on Wednesday, his final day in Argentina.

In the letter, the human rights leader asked Leo to continue the work and commitment of his predecessor, Argentine-born Pope Francis, on the issue.

Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo was founded in 1977 by a group of mothers of dictatorship victims who were forcibly disappeared, often along with their young children. Many of the women taken were pregnant, and their babies were likely born in captivity and taken from their mothers by the armed forces.

The organization has so far found 140 of those grandchildren, who were raised under false identities, and is searching for approximately 300 more.

“This search does not end with the passage of time nor with the deaths of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo who are already gone,” the letter says. “This is why we need the commitment of the entire society and of those who can contribute to finding the answers we are still looking for.”

Pope Francis’ help De Carlotto explained in her letter that the organization met several times with the late Pope Francis at the Vatican to ask for his help with the search, specifically by seeking access to Catholic Church archives that may contain information about their taken children and grandchildren.

“Pope Francis always expressed his willingness to cooperate and took steps that paved the way for dialogue and reflection within the Church regarding its actions during the era of state-sponsored terrorism,” the human rights leader said.

De Carlotto recalled that Pope Francis had become involved in the search for the grandson of the late Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo leader Sonia Torres, who headed the movement in Córdoba province, and whose daughter was taken away while pregnant, and remains disappeared.

Torres knew that her daughter’s baby had been cared for by a nun named Monserrat Tribó before being handed over to a family at the Casa Cuna orphanage in Córdoba. Francis sent two emissaries to speak with her. They told her that the pope had released her from the seal of confession, meaning she was free to speak about what had happened.

However, the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo were never told about the outcome of that conversation. Although they asked the Vatican about it, they “have so far not received an answer,” they explained to the pontiff.

De Carlotto said that, after she inquired about Tribó, the Vatican told her that the nun had died. Last year, however, Manuel Gonçalves Granada — the son of dictatorship victims who recovered his identity and is now a member of the organization’s board — learned that she was living in Barcelona, Spain. 

He tried to speak with her about Sonia Torres’ grandson and other stolen babies, but she “did not offer information.”

“We don’t know if Monserrat Tribó is still alive, but if she has passed away, we need to track down the emissaries who spoke with her or obtain the report they prepared about that visit,” De Carlotto said, expressing hope that they could provide information about the stolen baby.

Pope met with dictatorship survivor “We are confident that you will be able to continue this work and build on it,” the human rights leader added. “We are confident that you will help ensure that the path toward Memory, Truth, and Justice in Argentina continues to contribute to the reconstruction of collective memory, which Javier Milei’s administration has been attacking since taking office.”

On Tuesday, during his visit to Córdoba province, Pope Leo XIV met with Alba Camargo, the daughter and niece of dictatorship victims and a survivor herself.

Camargo asked him to support the search for the remains of dictatorship victims in Córdoba. She also handed him a folder containing a letter written to Francis in 2013 by Torres, who died in 2023, in which she asked for help finding her grandson.

In her letter, De Carlotto quoted the Gospel of John: “The truth will set you free,” saying that this was what they were striving for. She said they hoped God would continue to accompany them on that path so they could find their grandchildren before “they, too, begin to leave.”

“We trust that your word and your mission will help us achieve this,” she wrote.