We Cannot Understand – “Folha de S. Paulo,” July 7, 1974

 

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

 

His Eminence Cardinal Vicente Scherer delivered a clear and substantial speech on the program “A Voz do Pastor” (The Voice of the Shepherd), which was published in the Diário de Notícias of Porto Alegre on June 25 under the highly topical title “The Vatican and Communism.”

The TFP has issued a recent statement on the matter. Given the enormous publicity this document has received in the national and Spanish-American press, it seems impossible to me that the illustrious Prelate did not have it in mind when drafting his statement. This is all the more so since His Eminence explicitly mentions and comments on the denial His Excellency, Archbishop Casaroli, gave to our Declaration through Mr. Federico Alessandrini.

Thus, I feel compelled once again to address the Catholic resistance to His Holiness Pope Paul VI’s Ostpolitik.

Of course, if the gaucho prelate had our Declaration in mind, he also referred to other similar attitudes. He explicitly mentions Raffalt’s book (cited in our Declaration) and other German publications on the subject. I will comment only on Cardinal Scherer’s statements relevant to our thinking.

* * *

I begin by saying that I agree with some of the cardinal’s points. I believe he is right when he maintains that, in principle, it is the Vatican’s august mission to engage in diplomatic negotiations with communist regimes to alleviate the situation of persecuted Catholics. I have always maintained the legitimacy of this conduct.

However, I cannot agree with His Eminence when he maintains that the Vatican’s Ostpolitik consists simply of this and that the trips by Archbishop Casaroli, the Vatican’s Kissinger, have no other effect.

It is clear that the Vatican’s Ostpolitik has two dimensions.

One is the diplomatic approach, which His Eminence pursued from chancellery to chancellery. But there is another, which His Eminence refrained from addressing. Parallel to the Vatican’s diplomatic détente with the East, there was, in very broad Catholic circles, a noticeable shift in position toward the Marxist parties of the West. The militantly anticommunist attitude that had characterized these circles from the early days of Marxism until the death of Pius XII softened rapidly with the election of John XXIII and has become so rare during the pontificate of H.H. Paul VI that it is almost an exception to the rule.

I do not mean to say that censures of communism by ecclesiastical authorities and Catholic organizations have ceased entirely. But they have greatly diminished in number and, even more, in tone. So much so that they often resemble a complaint from one friend to another rather than a criticism of an irreconcilable adversary. Not infrequently, ecclesiastical authorities and Catholic organizations have gone so far as to collaborate openly with communist movements. Perhaps the most characteristic example of this conduct is the support His Eminence Cardinal Silva Henriquez gave to Allende’s rise to power and his maintenance in office (cf. Communiqué from the Chilean TFP, Folha de S. Paulo, March 2, 1973, and Declaration of the Brazilian TFP, Folha de S. Paulo, April 10, 1974).

This Catholic slacking off, occurring alongside the Vatican’s Ostpolitik, thus presents itself as its logical corollary.

Now, this is precisely the source of great perplexity among countless Catholics. We cannot understand how establishing and maintaining a communist regime in Chile would improve the situation of Catholics behind the Iron Curtain.

And even if it did, we cannot see how it is fair to set Chile on fire so the flames will subside elsewhere.

I am sure that millions of Catholics would be very grateful to anyone who could explain this point to us.

In the next article, I will analyze another point raised by His Eminence, namely the Vatican’s relations with communist countries.