Marxist ideology is wrong but Marxists can be good, says Pope

US conservative groups’ accusations that Pope Francis is a Marxist, following his recent apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, have been shrugged off by the Pope, writes Robert Mickens.
“The Marxist ideology is wrong. But I have met many Marxists who are good people, so I don’t feel offended,” the Pope said in an interview published on Sunday in La Stampa daily.

“There is nothing in the exhortation that cannot be found in the social doctrine of the Church,” said the Pope, who turned 77 on Tuesday. “The only specific quote I used was the one regarding ‘trickle-down theories’, which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about great justice and social inclusiveness in the world,” he said. “But what happens, instead, is that when the glass is full, it magically gets bigger and nothing ever comes out for the poor.”

In the interview, conducted on 10 December at his Sanctae Marthae residence, Francis confirms plans to visit the Holy Land next year, vetoes calls for women cardinals and says he wants the Church to work with humanitarian organisations to eradicate world hunger.

“Fifty years ago, Paul VI had the courage to go [to the Holy Land] and this marked the beginning of the era of papal journeys,” the Pope said. “I would also like to go there to meet my brother, the Patriarch of Constantinople, renewing that embrace which took place between Papa Montini and Athenagoras in Jerusalem in 1964,” he said.

Pope Francis said ecumenism was a “priority” for him, but pointed out that an “ecumenism of blood” was already uniting Christians of various denominations. “In some countries, they kill Christians for wearing a cross or having a Bible, but before they kill, they don’t ask whether they are Anglican, Lutheran, Catholic or Orthodox,” he said.

He explained the sacraments were “a remedy, not a prize”. “We must try to facilitate people’s faith rather than control it,” he said. “Last year in Argentina, I condemned the attitude of some priests who did not baptise the children of unwed mothers. This is a sick mentality.” “Women in the Church must be valued, not clericalised,” he said in response to calls for women cardinals. Anyone who suggests this, he said, “suffers a bit from clericalism”.