Jorge Mario Bergoglio: “It is the communists who think like Christians.”
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has confessed to being profoundly influenced by “communism” when discerning his vocation and says that, while he rejected its “materialism” he found its other elements in harmony with the “social doctrine” of the Catholic Church.
The frank admission of Bergoglio’s “Marxist” leanings has ignited fresh controversy in the Italian media following the publication of the pontiff’s interviews with Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari. His book paints the Bergoglio as a “modernist revolutionary” determined to change the Church, fight inequality, abolish sin and dismiss evangelism as the “solemn nonsense” of proselytism.
Atheist Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari.
In one of the most “controversial” interviews at Casa Santa Marta, the “atheist” Scalfari asks Bergoglio how he “discerned” his vocation in his younger days.
Bergoglio said he was at university and had a teacher he respected and befriended who was a “fervent communist.”
“She often read me and gave me to read texts from the Communist Party. The woman I’m talking about was later arrested, tortured and killed by the dictatorial regime then ruling in Argentina,” Bergoglio explained.
The woman, who remains “unnamed” in Scalfari’s book, has been “identified” as Esther Ballestrino de Careaga, a Paraguayan Marxist “terrorist” who also founded Paraguay’s first “feminist” movement.
A Catholic establishment media interview confirms “the person who introduced Bergoglio to political thought was Esther Ballestrino de Careaga, a Paraguayan activist who identified with communist postulates, founder of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who was finally killed by the dictatorship of General Videla.”
According to the left-wing Guardian, Bergoglio and Careaga met around 1953 or 1954 in the laboratory where she worked as a pharmaceutical biochemist and he as an apprentice chemical technician.
Careaga’s parents had a large library of books on “Marxism” and she asked Bergoglio to hold them in safekeeping. Bergoglio hid the “Marxist” library in Maximo Colegio, a Jesuit university in San Miguel, Argentina, and returned them to Careaga’s daughters some four decades later.
In the Scalfari interview, Bergoglio denies being “seduced” by Careaga’s communism, insisting “her materialism had no hold on me.” But in 2015, he told Careaga’s two daughters at the Vatican: “She taught me to think and introduced me to social concerns.”
Careaga’s daughter Ana Maria “reaffirmed” the influence of her mother’s “communist” ideas on Bergoglio:
“My mother left a flood of influence on the young adolescent. We understand that these waves are present in the ideas he spread during his visit to Latin America in 2015. We see them in the denunciation he made of the exhaustion of the capitalist system, the danger of the monopolistic media and the need to transfer it to the hands of the poor, a continuation of the ideas of my mother and the militants of the ‘70s.”
The theme of “Communism” surfaces in a later interview when Bergoglio told Scalfari that Jesus’ commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself,” had to change to become “Love your neighbor more than yourself.”
“You therefore dream of a society dominated by equality. This, as you know, is the program of Marxian socialism and then of communism. So do you think of a Marxian society?” Scalfari asks.
“It has been said several times and my answer has always been that, if anything, it is the communists who think like Christians,” Bergoglio replied.
In the same interview, Scalfari jokingly asks Bergoglio if he will attempt to “convert” him to Christianity.
Bergoglio smiled and answers: “Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it doesn’t make sense.” Rather, Bergoglio advocated “listening to each other” because the world is “crossed by roads … that lead to Good.”
When Scalfari asks if there is “a vision of the Unique Good” and who establishes such a vision, Bergoglio said, “Each of us has a vision of Good and Evil. We must encourage each other to proceed towards what each thinks is the Good.”
“I think this is one of the boldest statements made by a pope,” replies Scalfari. Bergoglio repeated his assertion, adding, “This would be enough to improve the world.”
Bergoglio supports his claim with a highly “reductionist” view of the Incarnation: “The Son of God became incarnate to infuse the soul of men with the feeling of brotherhood.”
In a theological response, U.K. Deacon Nick Donnelly told Church Militant that Bergoglio’s interviews offered a “very impoverished presentation of the Faith,” as “Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation,” as set forth in section 161 of the Catechism.
“Bergoglio presents a very humanistic interpretation of the Incarnation, reducing it to the affirmation of humanity. The authentic Catholic understanding of the Incarnation is that it accomplishes man’s salvation from sin,” Donnelly insists.
Towards the end of the interview, Scalfari again asks Bergoglio if he has any intention of converting him. “I still have no intention,” Bergoglio replies.
Donnelly observes:
“Scalfari is a notorious atheist. The Christian can never accept a dialogue with an atheist ‘free of preconceptions’ as if atheism is equal to Christianity as a form of knowledge. Vatican II’s Guadium et Spes [GS] didn’t accept this dialogue with atheism without preconceptions. GS holds that atheism is against reason. The Church must always start from the preconception of God’s Revelation, and denial of that revelation is profoundly erroneous and irrational.”
In his reading of Bergoglio’s encyclical “Evangelii Gaudium”, Scalfari says “the abolition of sin is the most shocking part” of that document. “Bergoglio abolishes sin by using two instruments,” i.e. Christ’s love, mercy and forgiveness and attributing full freedom of conscience to the human person.
Scalfari commends Bergoglio papacy for proclaiming “a God who does not judge but forgives.” He comments: “There is no damnation, no Hell. Perhaps Purgatory? Definitely repentance as a condition for forgiveness.”
When Scalfari asks what happens to those who “reject” the Christian God, Bergoglio proposes obeying one’s “conscience” as a valid alternative. Bergoglio then “rejects” the propositional conception of “absolute truth” even for Christians, and links truth for Christians to “the love of God for us in Jesus Christ.”
“Bergoglio reveals why he doesn’t like ‘absolute truth,’ because he prefers subjectivism, truth that expresses itself from ‘within,” Donnelly notes.
“Metaphysics and morality derive from objective truth, from God’s natural law and from God’s Revelation. Bergoglio’s subjectivist approach was condemned by Pope St John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor.”
Scalfari also praises Bergoglio for seeking dialogue and brotherhood with other “faiths” in the name of a “unique God” because he thinks “all religions must be inspired.”
Donnelly challenges this “indifferentism”:
“Here we see the precursor of Bergoglio’s Abu Dhabi Declaration and the heresy that God wills the plurality of religions. He tells Scalfari that the unique identity of Christianity centers on the Incarnation, which is true, but then goes onto to write that ‘other faiths’ have their origin in God’s transcendence, as if the same God is the source of other faiths. “
Throughout his book, Scalfari interweaves his own commentary with his papal interviews but separately reports Bergoglio’s words as if they are verbatim.
The Vatican has repeatedly asserted that “the words Dr. Eugenio Scalfari attributes in quotation marks to Bergoglio during the interviews cannot be considered a faithful account of what was actually said, but rather represent a personal and free interpretation of those who listened.”
Jorge Mario Bergoglio has never directly addressed or disputed the “accuracy” of Scalfari’s writing.
Correct and sound doctrine is “crucial” to salvation and growth in spiritual maturity. It comes as no surprise that God “warns” us many times in Scripture to be aware of “false” teaching. Christians need to be able to recognize “false” teachers in order to know when they are being led “down a path” that God did not intend!
The following Bible verses will help you “determine” whether someone is teaching “false” doctrine and how you should handle the “deceptive” teacher.
Ezekiel 13:9 “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD. “
Jeremiah 23:16 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.”
Luke 6:26 “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”
Matthew 7:15-20 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”
Matthew 16:11-12 “How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Matthew 23:1-29 “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others. But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Matthew 24:24 “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. “
Acts 20:28-30 “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.”
2 Peter 3:14-18 “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
1 John 4:1-6 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.”
2 Peter 1:12-21 “So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Titus 1:6-16 “An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons. This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
2 Peter 2 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed, an accursed brood! They have left the straightway and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey, an animal without speech, who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity, for people are slaves to whatever has mastered them. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and, ‘A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
