The Vatican should follow Pope John Paul II’s fearless example in dealings with communism.
Pope Francis leads a mass to open the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday. Mike Gallagher, a Republican, represents Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District and is chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.“We want God!” chanted the hundreds of thousands gathered to see Karol Wojtyła, now Pope Saint John Paul II, celebrate mass near Krakow, Poland, in June 1979.
John Paul’s exhortation to the faithful to live in truth and stand against aggression helped end the regime. He often said these three words: Be not afraid. As the Synod of Bishops meets at the Vatican this week to debate and advise the pontiff, those gathered should heed John Paul’s fearless example in their dealings with the Chinese Communist Party. This is not the course the Catholic Church appears to be charting.Last month, in a half-empty room in Mongolia, the current pope sent a message to a different tyrant. It should have been another chance for the church to speak truth to communist oppression.
John Paul understood that Soviet communism preached a false gospel that demanded acceptance without question and to have its diktats applied without exception. To maintain their stranglehold, Soviet leaders sowed envy, suspicion and paranoia. Fearing their own people, they often turned to repression.Chinese President Xi Jinping, too, is a totalitarian. His teachings must be accepted by all and are often imposed by force. Yet, Francis has not called him to account.
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