Posted on 10/07/2004 7:40:19 AM PDT by carlo3b
New Pope Book Says Communism Was 'Necessary Evil'
Oct 7, 6:23 AM (ET)By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Communism was a "necessary evil" that God allowed to happen in the 20th century in order to create opportunities for good after its demise, Pope John Paul says in his new book."Memory and Identity," which is due to be published early next year, is the ailing 84-year-old pontiff's latest and perhaps last book intended for a mass circulation audience. All of his previous books have been international bestsellers.
In one chapter, the pope, who lived through both Nazism and Communism in his native Poland, reflects on the meaning of evil in life and in history.
"I have personally experienced the reality of the 'ideologies of evil'. It remains indelibly fixed in my memory," he says in the book, which is a series of conversations he had in Polish with fellow philosophers in the summer of 1993.
Excerpts of the book, which was announced Wednesday at the Frankfurt Book Fair, were made available by the Italian publisher Rizzoli.
The pope, who has been credited with helping bring about the fall of Communism after his shock election in 1978, reveals that even an optimist like him had moments of pessimism during his life under Communist oppression.
"To me it was quite clear that Communism would last much longer than Nazism had done. For how long? It was hard to predict," he writes.
"There was a sense that this evil was in some way necessary for the world and for mankind. It can happen, in fact, that in certain particular human situations, evil is revealed as somehow useful inasmuch as it creates opportunities for good."
Many historians believe it was his support for Poland's free trade union Solidarity after he became pope in 1978 that helped the union go on to form the East Bloc's first free government.
NAZI "BESTIALITY"
The pope, whom Jews have credited with improving Catholic relations with them more than any pontiff in history, also reflects on Nazism, which he calls a "bestiality."
"The Lord God allowed Nazism 12 years of existence ... evidently this was the limit imposed by Divine Providence upon that sort of folly," he says.
"The full extent of the evil that was raging through Europe was not seen by everyone, not even by those of us who were living at the epicenter. We were totally swallowed up in a great eruption of evil," he says.
"Both the Nazis during the war and, later, the Communists in Eastern Europe, tried to hide what they were doing from public opinion. For a long time, the West did not want to believe in the extermination of the Jews," he writes.
The pope's royalties from "Memory and Identity" will go to charity as have his previous titles.
The director of the Holy See Press Office said that in the book John Paul II writes about the ideologies of evil, national socialism and communism, and he explores their roots and the regimes that resulted. In addition, he makes a theological and philosophical reflection about how the presence of evil often ends up being an invitation to do good. "Sometimes evil, in certain moments of human existence, reveals itself as useful. Useful in the measure in which it creates an occasion to do good," says the Pope in a excerpt from the book.
Doesn’t that sound familiar??? Geeeeze..Why would a political party try to hide their agenda?
Globalist elitist scumbags for sKerry?
Who says communism is dead? It is still advancing. But this time, it is happening globally. So there will be no truly "free" countries to illustrate, by example, its miserable failures. And there will be nowhere to run.
Then I guess it's OK Pope Pie XII was cosy with Mussolini, Franco abnd Hitler - he was just making sure some greater good could come out of their demise afterwards. And maybe the Holocaust was good, too, because it allowed for reduced anti-semitism after WW2 ?
Sheesh. Hard to stay Catholic when I read this.
A WARNING: The press often mis-quotes people they don't like in order to make them look bad. Wait until the book is out, rather than relying on highly selective phrases.
What an ignorant thing to say. Don't you think good can come of evil? Or was the crucifixion an abberation in that it was evil but led to good? By your logic an evil act (rape) can never produce a good result (human life). Or is it the word "necessary" that gets under your skin? If so, please explain.
When the Pope says "necessary evil" he is referring to a prayer from the Catholic Easter Vigil service in which the sin of Adam is referred to as "O happy fault! O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!"
Catholics believe that Adam's sin deprived men of the earthly Paradise of Eden, but that it led to an even greater good for mankind - the saving grace of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
From an evil human act, God brought forth a good greater than the evil which men did.
Therefore the Pope is saying that despite its great evil, Communism has taught us a very valuable lesson - that no political system, no matter how idealistic or "advanced" can ignore God without horrible consequences.
A "necessary evil"?
That must be some comfort to the millions murdered, maimed or enslaved by communism, and their relatives, eh?
/sarcasm
This will be spun into "Pope hails reign of communism!", I assure you.
First of all, theologically, NOTHING happens without the permission of God. God permitted Communism and Nazism for a reason, just like God permitted 9/11 to occur. Why? We don't know. Maybe 9/11 was a "necessary evil" to wake the world up and create the impetus to defeat the terrorists before they raise a mushroom cloud over New York City instead.
The press, which has no background in Catholic theology that I'm aware of, will undoubtedly smear the Pope with this...
Far be it from me to be a defender of the pope and all he stands for. But, what about the statement that you quoted do you find so senile or demented?
If the pope's point is that God is sovereign and nothing happens apart from His will -- whether it be communism or Nazism or whatever other terrible historical event you care to recall -- I'll have to agree with him.
On a related note, I wonder if he considers The Reformation and Protestantism "necessary evils," too...
See post 9.
In this I must agree. Evil has presented itself fully to the world. What we do about it, is very important. We can take the skerry road, compromise, litigate, and baury the dead with great funerals. Or we take a stand, fight them where they hide. and change our attitude about the moral issues of our time. I don't believe this is an isolated incident, it is one last chance for us to do what is right and good. If the evil wins this world battle, we are doomed. submit or die will be the law.
And there is nothing wrong with supporting Francisco Franco. He was a Christian gentleman who saved his country from becoming a Stalinist puppet state.
Or perhaps you support Stalinism. That would explain your hatred for the Pope.
You've drunk the left-wing Kool-aid on Pius XII. See post 9 too.
Discuss.
It goes back to the whole question of "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" If you don't believe that God has a plan for everyone and everything you will believe that God doesn't exist, which is ABSURD!
Exactly. See post 17.
The fact that Christians are divided from one another is an undeniable evil, whomever one blames for the split.
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