In an interview with the Jesuit America Magazine, Pope Francis made the case that Our Lord was a communist: “If I see the Gospel in a sociological way only, yes, I am a communist, and so too is Jesus.”

He goes on to say that, “The communists stole some of our Christian values. [Laughter.] Some others, they made a disaster out of them.”

The Nazis stole some Christian values too. Does that make Our Lord a Nazi? What if Pope Francis said, “If I see the Gospel in a sociological way only, yes, I am a Nazi, and so too is Jesus.” Putting it that way, you can see how absurd and blasphemous the statement is.

It’s the composition—or part-to-whole—fallacy and would be analogous to saying ‘If I see it in a physical way only, yes, rat poison is lemonade.’ Sure, they’re both liquids, but what’s the point of saying that?

The main problem is that Pope Francis equates communism with helping people, saying, “I try to follow the Gospel. I am much enlightened by the Beatitudes, but above all by the standard by which we will be judged: Matthew 25. ‘I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was in prison, and you visited me. I was sick and you cared for me.’ Is Jesus a communist, then?”

According to this line of reasoning, the state is Christian if it provides so much as drinking water to some people, it doesn’t matter if it violates several Commandments and commits democide of millions to do it.

Communism is Anti-Christian

But Pope Francis should know that socialism and communism may put on the facade of helping people but behind the scenes is simply an utterly anti-Christian ideology.

Pope Francis has spoken more negatively of communism, calling it “a ‘ freedom ’ forced, limited from outside, decided by someone else” but that’s a far cry from how his predecessor Pius IX described it: a “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.”

Every other pope has condemned socialism and communism clearly.

Pope Leo XIII wrote in 1881, “Hence we have reached the limit of horrors, to wit, communism, socialism, nihilism, hideous deformities of the civil society of men and almost its ruin.” In 1931, Pope Pius XI denounced the exaltation of the state as “Idolatry.”  He insisted that “Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist.” Pope Saint John XXIII taught in 1961 that, ”No Catholic could subscribe even to moderate Socialism.” And Pope Saint John Paul II maintained that “the fundamental error of Socialism is anthropological . . . [because it] considers the individual person simply as an element, a molecule within the social organism… .”

The fact that Pope Francis does not give a complete and utter repudiation of an ideology that is so anti-human that it killed over 100 million people in the 20th century is telling.

He has tip-toed around identifying as a socialist but now is proudly waving the red flag.

Saint Migel Pro, Ukrainian Martyrs, the Vietnamese Martyrs and all martyrs to communism, pray for us!

The entire exchange:

Matt Malone, S.J.: In the United States, there are those who interpret your criticisms of market capitalism as criticisms of the United States. There are even some who think you may be a socialist, or they call you a communist, or they call you a Marxist. You, of course, have always said you are following the Gospel. But how do you respond to those who say that what the church and you have to say about economics is not important.

I always ask myself, where does this labeling come from? For example, when we were returning from Ireland on the plane, a letter from an American prelate erupted that said all kinds of things about me. I try to follow the Gospel. I am much enlightened by the Beatitudes, but above all by the standard by which we will be judged: Matthew 25. “I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was in prison, and you visited me. I was sick and you cared for me.” Is Jesus a communist, then? The problem that is behind this, that you have rightly touched on, is the socio-political reduction of the Gospel message. If I see the Gospel in a sociological way only, yes, I am a communist, and so too is Jesus. Behind these Beatitudes and Matthew 25 there is a message that is Jesus’ own. And that is to be Christian. The communists stole some of our Christian values. [Laughter.] Some others, they made a disaster out of them.

As our friend Simon Kiggwa Kjala said, “The only thing Jesus had in common with communists is when he didn’t eat for 40 days.”