Previous popes have unequivocally condemned socialism and communism with Pope Leo XIII stating, “…communism, socialism, nihilism, hideous deformities of the civil society of men and almost its ruin,” and Pope Blessed Pius IX saying, “the goal of this most iniquitous plot is to drive people to overthrow the entire order of human affairs and to draw them over to the wicked theories of this Socialism and Communism, by confusing them with perverted teachings.”

But Pope Francis has taken a different tack, going so far as to claim that “If I see the Gospel in a sociological way only, yes, I am a communist, and so too is Jesus.”

On Wednesday, Pope Francis welcomed the Marxist-Christian dialogue group DIALOP to the Vatican to encourage them in “the courage to break the mould, concern for the less fortunate, and support for the rule of law.” He said it was important to overcome rigid, divisive approaches, conduct disputes with an open heart and listen to one another without excluding anyone on political, social or religious grounds.

In his comments, Pope Francis said to, “let us not forget how the great dictatorships, we think of Nazism, discarded and killed those who were most vulnerable.” He did not mention the communist dictatorships of the USSR, China, or Cambodia.

“A politics that is truly at the service of humanity cannot let itself be dictated to by finance and market mechanisms.,” the Pope urged his guests. They should “not stop dreaming of a better world”, in which ideals such as freedom, equality, dignity and fraternity are upheld; these ideals are a “mirror of God’s dream” for humanity.

The Pope wished for “the courage to step outside the box”, as well as an openness in dialogue for “new paths”. Full attention must be paid to the weak: the poor, the unemployed, the homeless, migrants, the exploited and all those who are marginalized by a throwaway culture. Dealing with them is the measure of a civilization. The great dictatorships such as National Socialism had discarded and even killed precisely these groups, Francis recalled.

In order to achieve solidarity and justice, systems of inequality must be purified in their intentions, “also through radical changes of perspective in the distribution of challenges and resources between people and peoples”, Pope Francis demanded.

The “DIALOP” dialogue platform is dedicated to dialogue between Christians and socialists or Marxists . Together with educational institutions, the members work on social ethics and ecology, combining Marxist ideas and Catholic social teaching. The initial impetus for this was provided by a meeting between Pope Francis and the future Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in 2014.

During the audience, the platform presented its activities of the past ten years to the Pope, some of which were also supported by the Vatican’s cultural and educational authorities. It was a “beautiful program”, praised Francis. Among the 15 participants were Luisa Sello from the Focolare Movement in Vienna and Berlin-based Cornelia Hildebrandt, who is also Co-President of the “transform!europe” network. (KNA)