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ANN KENEVAN on May 9, 2025

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ANN KENEVAN

Is the Pope a Communist? Since his election in the papal conclave of 2013, Pope Francis has embraced communist dictatorships and reversed the Catholic Church’s nearly two centuries of stalwart opposition to communism and socialism. ... William F. Jasper Article audio sponsored by The John Birch Soci... View MoreIs the Pope a Communist? Since his election in the papal conclave of 2013, Pope Francis has embraced communist dictatorships and reversed the Catholic Church’s nearly two centuries of stalwart opposition to communism and socialism. ... William F. Jasper Article audio sponsored by The John Birch Society "Is the Pope a communist?” That was the headline of a BBC News story on June 7, 2015. It was prompted by accusations from both Catholic and non-Catholic critics alarmed by Pope Francis’ many shocking statements and actions favorable to communism/socialism/Marxism that flatly contradict the Catholic Church’s constant teaching on these matters for the better part of two centuries. (See "Popes Against Collectivism.") Concerns about the radical tendencies of the current pontificate began mounting soon after the previously little-known Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio ascended to the papal throne as Pope Francis on March 13, 2013. The concerns have continued to build. Here are a few headlines from the Catholic and secular press that give a flavor of the ongoing kerfuffle over Pope Francis’ ideological heterodoxy: “Is the pope a communist?” — MSNBC “Really, is Pope Francis ... a communist?” — Catholic Online “Is the Pope a socialist?” — Catholic News Agency “Is Pope Francis a Socialist?” — America magazine Similar examples abound. So, how do these media outlets answer this profoundly troubling question? Well, in general, their responses fall into some formula of one part gaslight, one part spin, and one part lie. Since few Catholics (or non-Catholics, for that matter) understand the Marxist-Leninist basis of “liberation theology,” the Bergoglian apologists insist that Francis’ embrace of this communist/socialist ideology is merely an extension of traditional Catholic social teaching on care for “the poor.” Thus, the BBC reported in the aforementioned article that Pope John Paul II believed liberation theology “had tempted some priests and bishops into quasi-Marxist and even violent ideology, and as Pope he cracked down on some Liberation Theologians. Jorge Bergoglio rejected Marxism — although he cheerfully accepts that he has many Marxist friends — but accepted many of Liberation Theology’s principles, espousing what Austen Ivereigh [his friend and authorized biographer] calls ‘a nationalist version’ of the movement, or a so-called ‘Theology of the People.’” There is gaslighting, spinning, and lying aplenty in the BBC claim above. As we will show in what follows, Jorge Bergoglio has never “rejected Marxism,” despite an occasional throw-away quote that his defenders can pull out of a hat, which is about as credible as a statement from Stalin condemning mass murder. Let us explain. The proximate cause for the BBC headline in 2015 that we featured at the top of this article was Pope Francis’ central role in negotiating the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Communist Cuba and the United States. That relationship had been ruptured in 1961 when Fidel Castro’s Soviet-sponsored regime became increasingly totalitarian and ever-more hostile toward the United States. But Francis gleefully played the friendly interlocutor between Raúl Castro (who had succeeded his brother, Fidel) and then-President Barack Obama to end U.S. sanctions and restore U.S.-Cuba relations. The BBC story reported that Castro was so happy with Francis’ diplomatic work on Havana’s behalf that he even considered going back to praying and attending church: On his way back from the Victory Day Parade in Moscow last month, the Cuban leader Raúl Castro stopped off in Rome to thank Pope Francis for his role in Cuba’s rapprochement with the United States. “If the Pope continues this way,” Castro said afterwards, “I will go back to praying and go back to the church — I am not joking.” It has been nearly a decade since that Francis-Castro-Obama gambit took place, but there is no evidence that Raúl Castro (or his successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel) has become a prayer warrior and churchgoer. In fact, just the opposite. According to the latest report (September 2024) from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the communist regime in Havana is as repressive as ever. It states: Throughout 2024, religious freedom conditions in Cuba have remained extremely poor. Cuba is a one-party system under the ruling Cuban Communist Party, with no independent judiciary. The state uses its repressive legal framework to tightly control religious institutions and criminalize religious activities and expressions that the government perceives to be out of step with its ideology. In addition, the Cuban government persecutes worshipers through surveillance, harassment and threats, fines, and ill treatment of religious prisoners of conscience. Cuba’s ongoing persecution, imprisonment, and torture of Christian believers (Catholic and Protestant) and political dissidents have not dampened Francis’ affection for the Havana regime. Cuba’s communist media outlets have repeatedly used Francis’ meetings and photo ops with Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro, and Miguel Díaz-Canel (in Rome and Havana) as propaganda to falsely portray the island hellhole as a heavenly citadel of freedom and human rights. Unfortunately, Francis’ romance with the Cuban regime is not a one-off love affair. As we will see below, he has cozied up to the most oppressive anti-Christian communist regimes, with Xi Jinping’s China being the most spectacular, but far from only, example. In embracing the communist gangsters, he has reversed the policies of his predecessors and not only failed to extract any relief for those suffering under tyrants, but also turned a deaf ear to the appeals of their victims. Whether it is Hong Kong, mainland China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, or Venezuela, Francis has shown he can be depended on to side with the communist dictators and to offer only bland criticisms when forced to by worldwide outrage. https://thenewamerican.com/print/is-the-pope-a-communist/

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Is the Pope a Communist? thenewamerican.com

May 9, 2025