Rev Fr Francisco Jalics, one of two living Jesuit priests kidnapped in the 1970s by the Argentine military junta, had come to the defense of the newly-installed 266th pontiff, Pope Francis.

In a statement issued online on Wednesday, Rev Fr Jalics flatly denied they he and Rev Fr Orlando Yorio, a fellow Jesuit priest, were denounced by then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

Kidnapped in 1976, the two priests suffered a five-month incarceration under the Argentinean navy.

But then Cardinal Bergoglio, now referred as Pope Francis, had long before warned them to retire their work in the Argentinean slums for their own safety. But the two men of faith refused and continued with their work. Presumably broken in spirit, Rev Fr Yorio, now deceased, later lashed out at Cardinal Bergoglio for acting as conduit for the kidnapping.

"I myself was once inclined to believe that we were the victims of a denunciation," Rev Fr Jalics said. "[But] at the end of the 90s, after numerous conversations, it became clear to me that this suspicion was unfounded. It is therefore wrong to assert that our capture took place at the initiative of Father Bergoglio."

In a statement posted on the German Jesuits' Web site on Friday, Rev Fr Jalics stressed that he and Cardinal Bergoglio had long burned bridges, noting that they even "hugged" in a 2000 meeting. He had since then considered the matter closed.

Referring to how his Friday statement was interpreted, Rev Fr Jalics said "some commentaries imply the opposite of what I meant."

Although then Cardinal Bergoglio now Pope Francis failed to openly confront Argentina's 1976-1983 military junta, Argentine human rights activists have defended him that he also never cooperated with the dictatorship, as the latter kidnapped and killed thousands to eliminate opponents.

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