If in Rome and in Europe few had an idea of the approaching crisis, in Brazil Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, commenting on the announcement of the Council, expressed in January 1962 in Catolicismo the hope that it would bring an end to the terrifying confusion that was spreading among Catholics. “This confusion is gradually taking on truly apocalyptic proportions in Brazil and throughout the world, and, to my way of thinking, constitutes one of the greatest calamities of our days.”16 The focus of attention of the Brazilian thinker in this important article was the problem of relations between Catholicism and Communism.
“Due to its inherently atheistic and materialistic nature, communism cannot but have in mind the complete destruction of the Catholic Church, the natural guardian of the moral order which is inconceivable without the family and property.”17
In keeping with its premises, Communism cannot be limited to one State or a group of States. “It is much more than a political party. It is a philosophical sect that has its own vision of the cosmos.”18 Its doctrine implies a conception of the world that is antithetic to the Catholic one. Every attempt at “coexistence” is therefore, for the Brazilian thinker, doomed to failure.
“Within each country, as on the international scene, communism is in a state of inevitable, constant and multi-faceted struggle with the Church and those States who refuse to be swallowed by the marxist sect. This fight is as implacable as that existing between Our Lady and the Serpent. For the Church, which is indestructible, this fight will only end with the final crushing of the communist sect, not only in the West but throughout the world, including in the most hidden dens of Moscow, Peking and others. (…)
“Having said this, one cannot admit that the coexistence of Christian and communist nations is capable of the stability, composure and coherence inherent to the International Law that should rule Christian nations. Because International Law presupposes upright dealings among the peoples. Now, uprightness presupposes the acceptance of a morality. And it is inherent to communist doctrine to say that morality is purely empty bourgeois principle.”19
On the other hand, the teaching mission of the Church consists not only in teaching the truth, but also in defining and condemning errors. The analysis and condemnation of the doctrine and practice of Communism should have constituted, according to Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, one of the central points of the Vatican Council that was about to open. This conviction was moreover shared by hundreds of Council Fathers throughout the world. In the pre- preparatory phase of the Council, 378 bishops had asked that it should deal with modern atheism and, in particular, with Communism, indicating the solutions for facing the danger.20 The Vietnamese archbishop of Hué, for example, defined Communism as “the problem of problems”, the paramount issue of the day: “to discuss other problems … is to follow the example of the theologians of Constantinople who bitterly discussed the sex of angels while the Islamic armies were threatening the very walls of the city”.21
Among the bishops consulted by the Holy See to receive advice and suggestions, there were also the Brazilians Bishop de Castro Mayer and Archbishop de Proença Sigaud. The latter has the merit of an answer in which, because of the extent of its perspectives and the logical concatenation, it is not hard to see the influence of Dr Plinio, with whom he had a longstanding solidarity.
“I note that the principles, doctrine and spirit of the so-called Revolution infiltrate the clergy and the Christian people, as in the past the principles, doctrine, spirit and love for paganism infiltrated medieval society causing the Pseudo-Reformation. Many among the clergy no longer perceive the errors of the Revolution or resist them. Other members of the clergy love the Revolution as a good cause. They propagate it and co-operate with it. They persecute its adversaries by obstructing and slandering their apostolate. Most pastors keep silent, others are imbued with the errors and spirit of the Revolution and favour it overtly or covertly, as was the case during the time of Jansenism. Those who denounce and refute these errors are persecuted by their own colleagues, who brand them as ‘fundamentalist’. From the seminaries of the Eternal City itself, seminarians come out with their minds full of revolutionary ideologies. They describe themselves as ‘Maritainists’, or ‘followers of Teilhard de Chardin’, or ‘Christian socialists’, or ‘evolutionists’. The priests fighting the Revolution are highly unlikely to be raised to Episcopal rank, whereas those who favour it frequently are raised to Episcopal office.”22
“Communism has created the science of the revolution. Its main weapons are unruly and systematically fomented human passions. The Revolution uses two vices as forces to destroy Christian society and to build a Godless one: sensuality and pride. These disordered and violent passions are being purposefully unleashed under the iron discipline of leaders for a specific aim: to destroy the foundations of the City of God and build the City of Man. Even a totalitarian tyranny is condoned, and misery tolerated, as long as the order of the Anti-Christ is established.”23
The reference to the unruly passions clearly alludes to the fundamental theory of Revolution and Counter-Revolution. Confronted with the revolutionary process, which finds its ultimate expression in Communism, the Brazilian bishop did not hesitate to state: “The Church should organize a systematic fight against the Revolution throughout the world.”24
Notes:
16. P. Corrêa de Oliveira, “Na perspectiva do proximo Concilio”, Catolicismo, no. 133, January 1962.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Mgr Vincenzo Carbone, “Schemi e discussioni sull’ateismo e sul marxismo nel Concilio Vaticano II. Documentazione”, Rivista di Storia della Chiesa in Italia, vol. XLIV, 1990, pp. 11-12, pp. 10-68.
21. Acta et Documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando, Series II, II, pars III, (Rome, Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1968), pp. 774-6.
22. Acta et Documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando, Series I, vol. II, pars VII, (Rome, Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1961), pp. 181-2.
23. Ibid, pp. 184-5.
24. Ibid, p. 182. “In my modest opinion — wrote Archbishop Sigaud again — the Church must organize, at world level, a systematic struggle against the Revolution. I do not know if this is already happening. The Revolution proceeds in just this way. An example of this organized and systematic activity is the world-wide simultaneous and uniform establishment of ‘Christian democracies’ in many nations after the great war. This ferment penetrates all lands. Congresses are held, an International is created, and everywhere slogans are raised saying: ‘let us make the Revolution, before the others do!’ It is the Revolution done with the consent of the Catholics. According to my modest opinion, if the Council wants to produce healthy fruits, it must first of all meditate on the condition of the Church today which, like Christ, is living its Good Friday, delivered unprotected to its enemies, as Pius XII said in his speech to young Italians. We must consider the mortal war that is waged against the Church in all fields; we must discover the enemy, discern his strategy and his battle tactics, meditate on his logic, psychology and dynamics, in order to decide with certainty on the individual battles of this war, to organize the counter-offensive and direct it with security” (ibid).