St. Thomas Aquinas and the Socialists

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira (*)

A BRAZILIAN friend of mine in Spain — actually one of that country's most ardent admirers — sent me some news of what is going on under the present socialist government.

It was no surprise for one who knows the mentality, doctrine and program of the majority PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), because Spanish socialism (like its French counterpart) strives to destroy the family in every possible way. Divorce, the "depenalization" of homosexuality and of abortion in many circumstances, and the promotion of contraception are key points in the PSOE's activity.

My friend wrote me:

"Immorality in Spain has really grown in the last few years. This winter all the billboards are terribly immoral, and you cannot imagine what the TV programs are like. The ambience in the schools has also reached a climax of immorality. What you see in the streets are scenes of unbridled immorality. In short, immorality has a green light and is completely out of control.

"As a concrete example I'll tell you about the orgy, under the auspices of the socialism billeted here, with which they celebrated the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas! Yes, on the feast of the peerless Doctor of the Church, the Angelic Doctor. It took place from twelve o'clock noon on January 28 to twelve o'clock noon on the 29th.

"On the night of the 28th, hundreds of youngsters, frustrated in their hope of attending the Third Radio and Student Festival held in the Sports Palace, took out their indignation by rampaging through the local stores and shops. The situation inside the Sports Palace was no better after the intervention of Mayor Tierno Galvan, who literally encouraged those present to take drugs, saying: `Rockeros, si no es que colocaos, que se coloquen y al loro,' expressions whose approximate meaning is smoke the weed and don't miss out on what is going on around you.

"I have taken this information from the sober Madrid daily ABC (1/29/84). The same item was published in the wellknown El Alcázar, whose headline read: "The Rock of a Savage Night Went Through Madrid." The subtitle was: "Broken Windows, Smashed Showcases, Looted Stores."

The item stated:

"A mob destroyed a liquor store on José Juárez Street. Many spectators in the Sports Palace took drugs, ran and screamed, and threw rocks; it was a fight among madmen. As soon as they got inside, some of the spectators set up their own stands. Drugs, alcohol and the strident sounds of rock, usually bad (sic), soon brought on bloodshed. The consequences were broken chairs, empty fire extinguishers rolling around the floor, water fountains pushed out of place or wrecked, and garbage, a lot of garbage: garbage composed of waste and (untranslatable) everywhere (untranslatable).

Inside the place, where the twenty-four hour program organized by the Spanish National Radio was going on, things were getting bad — in spite of being protected from the bomb threats usual on such occasions.

But in the streets outside, where more than five thousand people were pushing, shoving, screaming or doing whatever they could to get in — things were taking on a tragic color. The tension in the streets gradually increased, until it finally exploded into a wave of vandalism difficult to justify (sic). While some shattered the windows of the Sports Palace, others began to smash the windows of local shops at random. The next morning, cobblers, hops, jewelry stores, banks, gift shops and markets all showed signs of a night rent by drugs and rock music.

It should be noted that this celebration was organized by the official National Spanish Radio, and sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Science, by the University of Madrid, and by the Madrid City Hall to commemorate the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, which is on January 29." So reads El Alcázar.

A lapse, a terrible lapse, but only a lapse of the socialist authorities? No. Let the reader consider another item.

On January 26, on an 8 o'clock p.m. Spanish TV program, all the types of contraception known to date were presented and described in detail. This program is normally viewed by children who have been out of class for some hours.

At noon on January 28, a film was shown on TV which contained utterly pornographic material. This film was shown on a program that is usually an educational one for children. At the end of the film, many children were interviewed and asked what they thought about it. One fourteen year old boy said it was normal, and that what he saw in the movies was usually done on the camping trips he took.

All this sparks obvious censures in those Brazilian ambiences which have not yet conformed to the ever growing immorality in our country, which has become so socialized.

However, I would like to close with a less obvious commentary. To the socialists of the first part of the century, it seemed as though the victory of depravation, stupidity and chaos necessary for their rise to power could only be obtained by overthrowing the supernatural, natural and historical bulwarks of traditional, Christian Spain.

Today they live side-by-side with those bulwarks. Spain has a king. It could be said that there the things of the Church are intact, and that the various classes of the social hierarchy appear to eat, drink and sleep unconcerned. Instead of demolishing churches and statues, socialism acclaims the king and celebrates the saints. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example...

But the fact is that these bulwarks have been terribly thinned down, and tend to become even more so. Why, then, should the socialists waste time overthrowing them?

One can see that it is better for socialism to give the orgy free rein so as to give the people the illusion that neither is corruption the irreconcilable enemy of St. Thomas, nor is St. Thomas the irreconcilable enemy of corruption. Thus they attempt to incorporate the Angelic Doctor in the cortège of countless accomplices of the red socialization.

How well socialism moves by celebrating St. Thomas Aquinas!

(*) “Folha de S. Paulo”, 22th February 1984