[carlo3b]

"""Both the Nazis during the war and, later, the Communists in Eastern Europe, tried to hide what they were doing from public opinion..."""

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?

[ApesForEvolution]

Globalist elitist scumbags for sKerry?

[aruanan]

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.

Well, I guess we have pretty clear evidence that being Pope isn't protective against senile dementia.

[lady lawyer]

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.

[ikka]

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.

[wideawake]

To non-Catholics:

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.

[Redbob]

A "necessary evil"?

That must be some comfort to the millions murdered, maimed or enslaved by communism, and their relatives, eh?
/sarcasm

[Rutles4Ever]

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...

[WildTurkey]

New Pope Book Says Saddam Was 'Necessary Evil'
Oct 7, 2054 6:23 AM (ET)

By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein was a "necessary evil" that God allowed to happen in the 21^st century in order to create opportunities for good after its demise, Pope John Paul III says in his new book.

[Larry381]

Finally someone beside Ronald Reagan equating Communism with Nazism. To this day the liberal left refuses to admit that there is a moral equivalence between the two. With today's leftist writers, producers & actors you'll never see a Hollywood movie about the uncounted tens of millions murdered by the Soviet Union & their surrogate states.

[Ancesthntr]

A "necessary evil"?

That must be some comfort to the millions murdered, maimed or enslaved by communism, and their relatives, eh? /sarcasm

I can promise you that it provided no comfort to my great grandfather, who had everything that he ever worked for stolen by the Communists when he was in his late 50's. This statement, I am certain, provided even less comfort for my grandfather, who was forced to flee his country of birth and leave most of his family behind at age 22 in order to simply survive. He never saw his parents or one of his brothers again, and only saw his remaining siblings for a couple of weeks in 1969.

Yes, Communism brought my grandfather to this country, and therefore my grandparents met and my father was born, leading to me and my kids. Good for me and them - but at what cost to my grandfather and his family? Those remaining behind lived in poverty and in constant fear of The State for the rest of their lives.

I find it impossible to label anything about Communism as a "good thing," except for its fall from power in the late 1980's in the former Soviet Empire. The voices of the tens of millions who were slaughtered by Lenin, Stalin & Mao, as well as all of the brutal and corrupt regimes and terrorist organizations (the legacy of which we are still seeing) supported by the Soviet Union and Red China, cry out in anguish about the evil - the utter lack of good - of that twisted and sick ideology. Sorry, the Pope is wrong. He may be perfect regarding Catholic theology, but he's off the mark on this one. Nonetheless, I salute him for having gone through what he did without losing any of his morality and decency. He's had a tough life (at least until he was elected Pontiff), and he deserves respect for that.

[dangus]

In this, the Pope is taking the position that all things are permitted by God for the perfection of the human race. His words may be shocking to some Americans, but would be readily understood by the Prophets (who said similar things about the Babylonian Captivity), the Church Fathers (who said such things about the Roman Empire) and Fatima visionaries (who prophesied such things would happen.)

[sr4402]

There was a sense that this evil was in some way necessary for the world and for mankind.

Yes, God allowed the evil of communism for a time. He may have allowed it for several reasons, of which we can only surmise. For God can use evil for His own good purposes.

For instance, He may have allowed Nazism to recreate the state of Israel by it's persecution of the Jews. He may have allowed communism to eliminate Nazism and to expose the depravity of mankind's bureaucracy when it alienates itself from God.

Never forget that once Adam and Eve turned over this world to the evil one, evil is the norm, not the exception. All mankind was sold to the evil one and God totally justified to do whatever he wills in dealing with fallen mankind. God was just in saving Noah and his family and wiping out the world at that time, just as He is in allowing communism for a time in the modern era.

God's goodness can also be seen the fall of the Berlin wall and the repeal of communism's stronghold over the majority of this world for the present time. It is only God that does 'good' in this world and no one will question His goodness when the panoply of history and his works are revealed to all at the end of the world.

[dfwgator]

The title is totally misleading. The term "necessary evil" implies that Communism, bad as it was, still provided a better alternative to anything else. That is clearly NOT what the Pope said.

[kellynla]

BTTT

[hosepipe]

[ 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. ]

If he(the Pope) did say this then the Popes God is STUPID...
Pity.. he could'nt think up a better God..

[Light Speed]

In 1933 the Vatican signed a Concordat with Germany making Roman Catholicism the only recognized religion in that country.
Signing the Concordat is Cardinal Pacelli (later to become Pope Pius XII). By 1933, he was the Vatican Secretary of State. Seated second from his left is Franz von Papen who was the Papal Nuncio to Germany. Standing at the far right can be seen the little known Vatican prelate, Montini, later to become Pope Paul VI.

Eugenio Pacelli (Pope Pius XII from 1939 to 1958)

Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen with Hitler and Goebbels



Little Dollfuss (Dictator of Austria) with Cardinal Innitzer on the right, witnessing the proclamation of the new Clerical-Fascist Constitution in 1934.

The Spanish Catholic Hierarchy giving the Fascist salute at Santiago de Compostela in 1937.

Franz Von Papen

Vatican agent Franz Von Papen:..."The Third Reich is the **First Power,which not only recognizes...but puts into practice...[THE HIGH PRINCIPLES OF THE PAPACY] ( Der Voelkischer Beobachter,Jan.14.1934)

Comment:
To be fair..I should root around and post on the Corrupt Russian Orthodox Church..which conspired to see the Czar brought down....looted him 7 ways from Sunday of his Kingdoms wealth...then cut deals with the Communists.

If you were Jewish in that time....it was like book ends of death between the 2 corrupt religious systems which made cooperation with madness,cruelty and greed a new definition.

Like the U.N. of today...its.."We didn't know....we did not have the power to stop it"..blah blah.

And to make everything on the square...we cut to present day reality...where **Jewish leaders roll over and aquiese in regards to Jewish wealth stolen in WW-2...
Bronfman and the World Jewish Congress....grinning as **Arthur Andersen Accounting Switzerland div finds just a few Jewish accounts in Zurich....close the books now..everyone go home.

[the invisib1e hand]

welp, as wretched as the assertion is, it's like this:

if there is a God, and He is omnipotent, then either

he was unaware of the evil or
He tolerated it.
in either event, it's His prerogative to do so.

Man's mandate is clear: to fight it.