The First Marxist Pope, Part One
Right from the outset, Marxists (including Marx himself) have despised religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular. As Marx has famously said: “Religion is the opiate of the masses.” In the early 20th Century during the yearly Communist conventions (Called Communist Internationals or Cominterns) it was often debated whether people of faith should even be ALLOWED to join the Communist Party. It was hoped that the worldwide “revolt of the proletariat” would not only put an end to capitalism but to religion as well. Of course that didn’t happen, and aggressive Communist expansionism (which seemed so unstoppable in the early 20th century) was eventually blocked by the resiliency of Christian faithful. Then the leadership of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II turned the tide and that bastion of Communism, the USSR, fell. The Pope was a big part of that triumph. But that was then and this is now. Marxists are nothing if not persistent. In liu of a direct attack, those clever Marxists decided to attack the Catholic Church from WITHIN. (One of the primary strategies of supremacist communism is INFILTRATION). Don’t believe me?… Read the “St. Gallen Mafia” by Julia Meloni, published on October 26, 2021, by TAN Books. (By the way the term “Mafia” here is figurative, having nothing to do with the well known Italian crime syndicate).
Now, think back to one of the most remarkable things to happen to the Catholic Church in the past one hundred years:… Pope Benedict’s resignation. The resignation of a living Pope has happened only a handful of times in the two thousand year history of the Catholic Church. In fact, there had not been such a resignation in SIX HUNDRED YEARS…. So, WHY did Benedict resign? Although Benedict claimed his health was failing, his health WAS good enough for him was to live another nine years after his resignation in 2013. There are those that think he was forced out. Why?… During his tenure, Benedict cleared the church of so called “Liberation Theology” and the priests that preached it. What WAS “liberation theology?” In a word: COMMUNISM; communism with, perhaps, the typical Communist theomisia (hatred of God) toned down just a bit. Benedict basically purged the church of that plague. But then, the Marxists within the church pushed back HARD. The conclave that followed Benedict’s resignation chose a Marxist disguised as a pious man: Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was a perfect choice for the Papacy from the leftist viewpoint. Although he had a grandfatherly mien and a beatific air, he was a “dyed in the wool Marxist.” As we shall see.
Francis was, as he was chosen to be, a very popular Pope. The basis for his popularity was was his humble persona and his advocacy of the poor. (People love anyone who sticks up for the underdog!). But what exactly did Francis’ advocacy for the poor amount to?… Merely scolding rich nations, apparently, with the United States included. In 2016, Pope Francis, while on a trip to Mexico, took direct aim at the newly elected Donald Trump, saying: “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is NOT A CHRISTIAN. (Emphasis mine). He also often decried the economic disparity between rich and poor nations. But, how much did Francis actually DO for the poor, beyond lip service? Most people would be SHOCKED to learn that just TEN PERCENT of Vatican revenues actually went to the poor. As reported in the Wall Street Journal (2019):
“Only a small percentage of donations to the Vatican, specifically those to the Peter’s Pence collection, are directly allocated to charitable works for the poor. In 2019, a WSJ report indicated that only 10% of Peter’s Pence donations went towards charitable work, with the remaining funds used to cover the Vatican’s administrative budget deficit. While the Vatican promotes these funds as helping the poor, a CNBC report highlights that a significant portion is used for other purposes.”
Reference:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/vatican-uses-donations-for-the-poor-to-plug-its-budget-deficit-11576075764#
By comparison, the United States, which Francis scolded, does a bit better.
Research indicates that a substantial portion of our federal budget, approximately 11% or $665 billion, is indeed allocated to economic assistance programs. These programs aim to provide support to individuals and families in need, helping to address issues such as poverty, food insecurity, and unemployment.
And, that eleven percent estimate doesn’t even count foreign aid to the poor of other countries, which ads another 1 to 2 percent.
So, when Francis’s scolds the United States for doing too little to help the poor, it seems that he’s quite the hypocrite, isn’t he? And hypocrisy is generally NOT thought to be a “Christian virtue.”
Then, there’s Francis’s accommodation of the Chinese Communist Party. Francis bowed to President Xi Jinping’s demands that the CCP have power over the election of Bishops and Cardinals in the Catholic Church. Basically Francis abrogated his mission as the head of the Catholic Church in that country. And, as commentator Roger Stone noted, the atrocities carried out by the Chinese Communists are “probably the most brutal in the history of mankind.” Further, even today, “Christians, as well as those who practice a peaceful tradition of Buddhism, Falan Gong are viciously murdered and their organs are harvested and sold.” Should these murders control the moral stance of the Catholic Church? Francis, apparently, was okay with that. Why? Well the CCP is Marxist just as he is.
Then, there’s Francis’s CONSTANT pandering to Islam, and even its terrorists, the Jihadis. While not explicitly endorsing the Charlie Hebdo murders, Francis did offer a partial justification, as noted in Time Magazine (January 15, 2015): Freedom of expression, he said, is “a fundamental human right. But they are also not total liberties. There is a limit.” And then he added: “One Cannot Make Fun of Faith.” How so, Jorge? The Marxists and liberals do it ALL THE TIME, don’t they?
Now, in case the reader wonders if I’m treating Pope Francis unfairly, looking at him with a jaundiced eye, there are MANY Christian publications that are vehemently critical as well. A recent article in the Christian Post, titled “Is Pope Francis Catholic?,” reads: “His comments have left many wondering, not only whether the Pope is truly Catholic, but whether he’s even a Christian at all.” And even some main stream CATHOLIC commentary is critical as well. Several months ago the Catholic Cable website ran the following headline. “Has Pope Francis left Christianity?” The gist of the article (which, mysteriously, can no longer be found online) was that Francis’s statement that there are “many paths to God” contradicts Jesus when He said “No one can come to the Father but through me.”
In part two, I will discuss additional problems with this Marxist Pope