Comrade Francis?

This ought to be good.  So reports are trickling in that Pope Francis has, for the second time at least, given a subtle nod and thumbs up, not to Capitalism or Capitalists – heaven forbid – but to that good old human tradition known as Communism.  At least he’s given a high five to Communists, which seems to be how he frames the complements.  When I was in my graduate days, I remember a fellow student who had lived and studied in S. America describing liberation theology to me.  He said that the best way to understand liberation theology is to believe that Adam and Eve may have sinned because of Satan, but Satan sinned because he was a Capitalist.  By and large, the rage and focus is so channeled that the Western Democracies and Capitalist economies are seen as the singular cause of evil and suffering in the world, with the foibles and failings of all other human traditions and cultures being seen as the result of the West’s interference and exploitation.

I always imagined there was some dramatic license on his part, and yet the more I watch and listen to Pope Francis, the more that appraisal keeps coming back and buzzing around my mind.  It wouldn’t surprise me if he was a tried and true example of such a caricature.  It isn’t as if popes in history weren’t guilty of jumping on the latest temporal bandwagon because it happened to tickle the papal fancy.  So we’ll see.   No pope is perfect, and some less so than others.  I’m sure Francis Fans will see no problem in this and, if need be, will adorn their domiciles with hammers and sickles and sing the Hymn of the Russian Federation to show how much better they are than us simple folks who are scratching our heads about this.  It’s what Catholics do, all too often.

Could it be because he’s trying to soften resistance in China, and therefore trying to find something positive to say about a nation that continues to oppress religious minorities with abandon?  Maybe. Anything is possible.  And if he was less harsh and negative with his appraisal  of the Capitalist West, or a little less conciliatory with any and every sin that tacks left of center, I’d be more willing to accept that spin on things.  As it is, the whole of his papal discourse makes me think more of that old description of liberation theology than anything else.

FWIW, if the people who attend my wife’s Orthodox Church have taught me anything, Christians who suffered and died under Communist rule (or continue to do so in China), have all the warm affection for Communism that Jews have for Nazis.  That Francis continues to reserve fire and brimstone for the Capitalist West (and the mafia), while reaching out an olive branch to all of those pesky problems left of center including, but not limited to, Communism, will no doubt give them something to talk about.  If that’s hard to imagine, consider the reaction from the Jewish Community if a Pope said ‘sure fascism had its problems, but there were some good fascists, too.’