Vol. 79/No. 37      October 19, 2015

Francis is the third pope to visit Cuba. On his arrival Sept. 19 he quoted the words of Pope John Paul II when he visited the island in 1998: “May Cuba, with all its magnificent potential, open itself up to the world, and may the world open itself up to Cuba.” Pope Benedict XVI also traveled to Cuba, in 2012.

Francis played a role in the discussions that led to the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Havana and Washington, a reflection of the failure of U.S. attempts to destroy the revolution over the last 55 years.

Right-wing opponents of the Cuban Revolution in the U.S. criticized Francis for refusing to meet with the so-called dissidents in Cuba. But the stance of the church hierarchy for several decades has been to avoid direct confrontation with the government. Instead, it has sought to exert greater influence through expanding church-based social institutions.

The pope spent three days in Cuba, where he was welcomed by President Raúl Castro and the Cuban people. He also met briefly with Fidel Castro, who presented him with the book Fidel and Religion.

Not a ‘communist pope’

“I haven’t said anything more than what’s written in the social doctrine of the church,” he replied, adding that perhaps his explanations “gave an impression of being a little ‘to the left,’ but it would be an error of explanation.”

An Aug. 1 article in the Washington Post by reporter Nick Miroff, titled “You Can’t Understand Pope Francis Without Juan Perón — and Evita,” offers a useful look at where the Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Begoglio, who became Pope Francis, comes from.

Gen. Juan Perón ruled Argentina from 1946 to 1955. He came to power in a period of relative prosperity. His anti-imperialist rhetoric and an extensive program of social welfare benefits, closely associated with his wife Eva Perón, were immensely popular among working people. By appearing to stand above class divisions Peronism tied a powerful, combative labor movement to the Peronist party and the capitalist state, and was an obstacle to working people understanding their own power, capacities and need to organize independently of the capitalist parties.

Julio Barbaro, a former Argentine congressman who studied at a Jesuit college with Begoglio in the 1960s, told the Post that Peronism appealed to the future pope because it rejected both Marxism and laissez-faire capitalism. “It was a way to the poor that doesn’t believe in class struggle,” Barbaro said. “It believes in capitalism but with limits.”

In the 1960s and ’70s some Catholics joined the revolutionary working-class movement in Latin America under the banner of “liberation theology.” The Post notes that Francis was part of a group of young priests who counterposed a “theology of the people as an alternative to Marxist-inspired liberation.”

Francis spoke to the U.S. Congress Sept. 24. “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world,” he said. “It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for the area in which it operates, especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service.”

In addition to Washington, D.C., the pope visited New York and Philadelphia, where he spoke at a conference on the family and met with victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. Francis’ election as pope was also part of an effort by the church hierarchy to repair damage to the church’s credibility caused by decades of sweeping sexual abuse by priests under the rug.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home