Communism and the pope

By Ileana Johnson Paugh, Ed.D.

From Pope Pius XII, the much beloved, anti-communist and anti-Nazi pope, to Pope Francis, the 266th pontiff of the Catholic Church, the church has undergone a lot of changes.

In the 224-page document, "The Joy of the Gospel," Pope Francis critiqued the following.

The current capitalist inequalities
(Socialism and communism were never equal; there were two classes, Communist Party apparatchiks and the proletariat.)
"The idolatry of money"
(The Vatican is wealthy beyond belief if one considers thousands of priceless works of art, marble statues, gold and silver icons, urns, crucifixes, chalices and marble cathedrals around the world. Should the Church not follow its direction and distribute all wealth to the poor?)
"The inequality that spawns violence"
(Many factors spawn violence such as religion, land, drugs, natural resources and power.)
"Trickle-down economics" – a theory that "expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power."

The Washington Post immediately included the papal criticism in its editorial and pointed out that Democrats and liberals have rejected the "trickle-down economics" theory and used the phrase derisively to define it:

"The phrase has often been used derisively to describe a popular version of conservative economic philosophy that argues that allowing the wealthy to run their businesses unencumbered by regulation or taxation bears economic benefits that lead to more jobs and income for the rest of society. Liberals and Democratic officials have rejected the theory, saying it is contradicted by economic evidence."

"Trickle-down" theories do promote economic growth when encouraged by a free market with less government regulations, and do bring about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world.

The United States citizens have done very well economically as opposed to centralized, socialist, and communist countries where indescribable poverty is rampant while the ruling, tyrannical elite live luxuriously at the expense of the masses. Even the poorest of the poor in the United States live far better than the rest of the world because capitalism works. It is the abundance born by capitalism that allows Americans to be so generous to the church, to the poor and to the rest of the world.

The Latin American pope from Buenos Aires spoke for the masses that are still waiting for "social justice." Yet the United States always pledges and helps when tragedy strikes; Americans give generously of their wealth, time and expertise. "Social justice" is an entirely different manufactured creature.

According to Lt. Gen. Ion Pacepa, the Soviet communist-led idea of "social justice" was infiltrated successfully by the KGB into Latin America's Catholic Church as a religious movement called "liberation theology." The goal was to "incite Latin America's poor to rebel against the 'institutionalized violence of poverty' generated by the United States." (Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, "Disinformation," WND Books, 2013)

From the government's point of view, what kind of "social justice" are the masses waiting for when pining for socialism and communism? They are waiting to vote again and again for the same individuals and socialist or communist governments that brought them to poverty and kept them perennially downtrodden. They are waiting for socialist governments to give them welfare and free minimal health care through Castro clinics while they stay home and procreate more dependents. They are waiting for the redistribution of wealth from productive citizens. They are enslaved to their governments that decide their daily lives, yet they are told their enslavement is the United States' fault.

Robert Spencer wrote an article around the pope's statement that "Authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Quran are opposed to every form of violence."

The following is an excerpt from paragraph 253 of the papal document: "We Christians should embrace with affection and respect Muslim immigrants to our countries in the same way that we hope and ask to be received and respected in countries of Islamic tradition. I ask and I humbly entreat those countries to grant Christians freedom to worship and to practice their faith, in light of the freedom which followers of Islam enjoy in Western countries! Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalizations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Quran are opposed to every form of violence."

The Christian victims of jihad violence in Egypt, Libya, Nigeria and Pakistan carried out by Muslims who use the Quran to explain the burning of churches and the killing of innocents tell stories of unimagined horror.

Robert Spencer wrote that "The Bishop of Rome … can … speak authoritatively about Catholic doctrine: he has the authority to delineate what is authentic Catholicism. … The pope of Rome has no counterpart within the Islamic world: there is no Muslim authority to which he can appeal in order to discover what 'authentic Islam' consists of, and many Muslim authorities would disagree with his statement that 'authentic Islam' is opposed to every form of violence."

Reza Aslan wrote in his Nov. 30 column on faith, "If you don't like the pope, you won't care much for Jesus." Jesus, he said, "is advocating a chilling new reality in which the rich will be made poor, the strong will become weak, and the powerful will be displaced by the powerless."

The anti-communist and anti-Nazi Pope Pius XII saved Jews and ethnic groups from pogroms. He was the voice of the Catholic Church against Hitler's attack on the Jews and on prisoners in concentration camps.

Castel Gandolfo was used to shelter refugees. "His personal bedroom was converted into a nursery and birthing area, and about 40 babies were born there during the war." The World Jewish Congress estimated that 860,000 Jews were saved by the Church. (Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, "Disinformation")

Would the new world order succeed in "nudging" the Catholic Church into the direction of Latin America's brand of "social justice," which includes wealth redistribution?

Order Lt. Gen. Pacepa's eyeopening book, "Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategy for Undermining Freedom, Attacking Religion and Promoting Terrorism." or get both the book and DVD, "Disinformation: The Secret Strategy To Destroy The West" together – and save!

Ileana Johnson Paugh, Ed.D., is a freelance writer, author of the Amazon best-seller "U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy" and a regular contributor to Butler on Business on Liberty Express Radio.