Is the Pope Catholic?
I remember being asked that question going back to my childhood. It struck me as a silly way to respond to a question where the answer was yes — not just yes, but so emphatically and obviously yes that the answer could not have been anything else.
During those childhood years, I never imagined that the question “Is the pope Catholic?” could one day be asked not as a sarcastic response to another question, but as a serious question in and of itself. But times have changed. So much so that, when senior editor William F. Jasper began working on the cover story appearing in this issue, the working title was (you guessed it!) “Is the Pope Catholic?” with no hint of sarcasm intended. But as you can see from the cover, Jasper decided instead to title his article “Is the Pope a Communist?” and we concurred.
Deciding which was a better title was not an easy call. Both questions are provocative, perhaps equally so. They are also supported by ample evidence to warrant raising the question seriously. And they are related. After all, if the pope is a communist, then he cannot be a Catholic — at least not sincerely — since the dogmas of the Catholic Church and of communism are antithetical to each other. To say that a communist can be a Catholic, or vice versa, makes about as much sense as saying that water can be dry. Except, of course, that a communist can pretend to be a Catholic. And such a pretender can not only become a priest, but could also eventually become a pope.
JBS Member or ShopJBS.org Customer?
Sign in with your ShopJBS.org account username and password or use that login to subscribe.
Subscribe Now
- 24 Issues Per Year
- Digital Edition Access
- Exclusive Subscriber Content
- Audio provided for all articles
- Unlimited access to past issues
- Cancel anytime.
- Renews automatically
Subscribe Now
- 24 Issues Per Year
- Print edition delivery (USA)
*Available Outside USA - Digital Edition Access
- Exclusive Subscriber Content
- Audio provided for all articles
- Unlimited access to past issues
- Cancel anytime.
- Renews automatically