Hopes for the Papal Visit – Folha de S. Paulo, January 21, 1985

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

I eagerly anticipate His Holiness John Paul II’s visit, which will start in Caracas on the 26th. The visit will include the northern countries of South America—Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador—as well as Peru, which is no longer considered a northern country.

Certainly, the fate of these nations and all of Latin America is currently in the hands of the Pontiff. A single word from him could save the largest Catholic population block of our time from the abyss of social revolution, which extends from the Rio Grande on the border between Mexico and the United States to the icy reaches of Patagonia, already facing the Antarctic continent.

“Save us from social revolution,” I said — but the issue goes much deeper than that. Communist and socialist agitation threatens not only with the injustices and violence typical of such movements but also with something more profound and destructive: the takeover of power by Marxist factions embedded in the political systems of every South American country, along with the widespread flow of pro-Marxist Liberation Theology spreading through Catholic circles. In other words — horresco referens — the triumph of the virus of atheism, now injected into a Church already given to self-destruction and engulfed by the smoke of Satan.

It is certain that once Latin America has been ‘communized,’ the United States and Western Europe will lose an essential source of economic and political support, which they will only then realize they’ve been missing.

In other words, I believe that the main global battle over communism could be decided in Latin America.

Having considered all this, it is also true that—as I hinted at earlier—the communist movement is only relevant in the Latin American world to the extent that it has infiltrated the Church.

This infiltration occurs at various levels of strength. It is genuine and even fanatical in some parts of the Sacred Hierarchy and within certain leadership groups among the Catholic laity. However, it has only gained some ground in other Catholic circles because they believe they see the thinking of the post-conciliar Popes accurately reflected in the sermons—or, more accurately, demagogic speeches—of certain bishops, priests, and nuns. A single, clear, and strong clarification from the Pontiff will be enough to cause most of those who follow the “Catholic left” to lose interest in its subversive messages.

“Say just one word, and our homelands will be saved.” It is with this phrase in my heart and on my lips (or, rather, at the tip of my pen) that I prepare to watch from afar yet another visit by His Holiness to our continent.

This is exactly what I was thinking during the trip to Brazil that the Pontiff honored us with in 1980. However, that thought does not come back to me now in quite the same way. The course of events has added something to it — something auspicious, expressed in that beautiful word: hope. A hope for which, I admit, I saw no ground in 1980.

This hope stems from a series of events that filled the pages of newspapers across Latin America and many major papers in the West a few months ago.

Everyone surely remembers that, at that time, the Instruction on Certain Aspects of “Liberation Theology,” published by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave the Latin American press the chance to suddenly turn Friar Leonardo Boff into a celebrity with great fanfare. He was a rival to Cardinal Ratzinger in a way that was both provocative and arrogant.

Now, the main issue in this entire controversy was the presence of Marxist thought in many strands of Liberation Theology; Cardinal Ratzinger condemned it in his famous Instruction, while Father Boff and many others justified it, if not outright defended it.

Crucially, in addresses delivered to the episcopates of Ecuador and Peru—who had traveled to Rome for their ad limina apostolorum visit—and to the CELAM bishops during his trip to the Caribbean in October, John Paul II reaffirmed and expanded upon the doctrine outlined in Cardinal Ratzinger’s document with additional teachings. We therefore had the opportunity to share our hopes not only in an article in Folha de S. Paulo (12/10/1984), but also in an official telex from the Brazilian TFP to His Holiness on October 30 of last year.

But the progress of these hopes, shared by many other Catholic figures and groups, was temporarily halted as this important debate gradually faded into media-imposed silence.

However, it seems entirely inconsistent that the process of removing Marxist influences—which the Vatican wisely started—should now be halted indefinitely. On the other hand, it is reasonable to expect that the Pontiff will use his trip to South America to give the matter the push it needs. An encouraging sign in this regard was the Pontiff’s address to the College of Cardinals on December 21 of last year, where he strongly defended Cardinal Ratzinger’s document.

He might choose not to say anything about Venezuela. In fact, that beloved sister nation is governed by the strongly left-wing party, Acción Democrática (AD), which is affiliated with the Marxist Socialist International. The President and his entire cabinet are members of AD, which also controls the majority in both the Senate and the House. Additionally, in both chambers, AD has the support of various smaller leftist groups, including the Communist Party. So, it’s not surprising if the Pontiff doesn’t comment on this major issue during his visit with such hosts. However, it will be easier for him to do so once he is in Ecuador or Peru. This possibility is why we remain hopeful, as do many Latin American Catholics.

May Our Lady enlighten the Pontiff during this critical moment; this is our prayer to Heaven.