Karl Marx Meets Catholic Social Teaching

 

by CAPP-USA

 

Who is Karl Marx?

Karl Marx was more than a philosopher – he was a revolutionary. His lofty goal was to set the common man free from the oppression and suffering caused by a harsh, capitalist system.

Basically, “[t]he Marxist program…sees in class struggle the only way to eliminate class injustices in society and to eliminate the classes themselves.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 11)

His writings include the Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867) and form the basis for Socialism and Communism.

What is Marxism?

Marxist socialism was a response to the great disparity in wealth and suffering caused by the abuses of capitalism in the 19th Century. It positions socialism as the transition between capitalism and communism – wherein ‘all would own all for the benefit of all – equally’.

Under this philosophy, the state owns and regulates the means of production and distribution of goods. People then share equally in the outputs of the system, according to their need.

Read more about the Church’s consistent opposition here

Marxism and the Catholic Church

The Church agrees this is an appealing goal!

“Socialism inclines toward and in a certain measure approaches the truths which Christian tradition has always held sacred”. (Quadragesimo Anno, 113)

So much so that Marx’s ideas “will no longer differ from the desires and demands of those who are striving to remold human society on the basis of Christian principles”. (Pope Pius XI, 114)

Despite these similarities of goals, their differences lie fundamentally in “their respective visions of man”. (Pope Benedict XVI) Karl Marx’s greatest error was anthropological!

“With great precision, Marx described the situation of his time, and with great analytical skill he spelled out the paths leading to revolution.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 20)

“He showed precisely how to overthrow the existing order, but he did not say how matters should proceed thereafter. He simply presumed…the new Jerusalem would be realized.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 21)

“[H]is error lay deeper. He forgot that man always remains man. He forgot man and he forgot man’s freedom. He forgot that freedom always remains also freedom for evil. He thought that once the economy had been put right, everything would automatically be put right.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 21)

“This was [Pope John Paul II] message: man is the way of the Church, and Christ is the way of man.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

Marx and the Catholic Church

Even before the horrible, inhuman experiences of U.S.S.R., Cuba, North Korea and China, Catholic social teaching rejected socialism on principles.

In 1891, Pope Leo XIII already called Marx’s proposals “emphatically unjust” because it “would rob the lawful possessor, distort the functions of the State, and create utter confusion in the community.” (Rerum Novarum, 4)

As to the Catholic Church herself, Marx wrote, “The Church has had 1,800 years to show that it could change the world and has not done anything; we will now do it on our own”. (Pope Benedict XVI)

Catholic social teaching responds: “It is impossible to construct [the world] in a mechanical way, as Karl Marx proposed…If there is no moral force in souls, if there is no readiness to suffer for these values, a better world is not built”. (Pope Benedict XVI)

Why Marxism Can’t Mix with Christianity

Pope Pius XI “made it clear that no Catholic could subscribe even to moderate Socialism”. (Pope St. John XXIII, 34)

“According to Christian teaching, man, endowed with a social nature, is placed on this earth so that by leading a life in society and under an authority ordained of God he may fully cultivate and develop all his faculties unto the praise and glory of his Creator” (Pope Pius XI, 118) Marx opposed belief in God and argued the question itself was incoherent and pointless.

“Socialism…wholly ignoring and indifferent to this sublime end of both man and society, affirms that human association has been instituted for the sake of material advantage alone.” (Pope Pius XI, 118)

The “means” of Marxism “cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth”. (Pope Pius XI, 117)

“Therefore the Christian…cannot without contradicting himself adhere to ideological systems which radically or substantially go against his faith and his concept of man. He cannot adhere to the Marxist ideology, to its atheistic materialism, to its dialectic of violence and to the way it absorbs individual freedom in the collectivity, at the same time denying all transcendence to man”. (Pope St. Paul VI, 26)

Marxism will never work because “It is not possible to understand man on the basis of economics alone”. (Pope St. John Paul II, 24)

Marxism vs Christianity/Charity vs. Justice

“Since the nineteenth century, an objection has been raised to the Church’s charitable activity…by Marxism: the poor, it is claimed, do not need charity but justice. Works of charity—almsgiving—are in effect a way for the rich to shirk their obligation to work for justice and a means of soothing their consciences, while preserving their own status”. (Pope Benedict XVI, 26)

While “[i]t is true that the pursuit of justice must be a fundamental norm of the State”, (Pope Benedict XVI, 26), “Love—caritas—will always prove necessary, even in the most just society. There is no ordering of the State so just that it can eliminate the need for a service of love.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 28)

As Pope St. John Paul II said, “Today, when many countries have seen the fall of ideologies which bound politics to a totalitarian conception of the world — Marxism being the foremost of these — there is no less grave a danger that the fundamental rights of the human person will be denied and that the religious yearnings which arise in the heart of every human being will be absorbed once again into politics.” (Veritatis Splendor, 101)

Marxism will never work because “It is not possible to understand man on the basis of economics alone”. (Pope St. John Paul II, 24)

The Basis of a ‘Christian Economic System’

Only being “open to the Absolute can guide us in the promotion and building of forms of social and civic life — structures, institutions, culture and ethos”. (Pope Benedict XVI, 78)

“Only in charity, illuminated by the light of reason and faith, is it possible to pursue development goals that possess a more humane and humanizing value.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 9)

“The economic sphere…must be structured and governed in an ethical manner.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 36)

“It would appear that at the national and international level the free market is the most efficient way for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 32, 34)

A foundational guide is that “money must serve, not rule”. (Pope Francis)

“Once capital becomes an idol…once greed for money presides over the entire socioeconomic system, it ruins society, it condemns and enslaves men and women, it destroys human fraternity, it sets people against one another”. (Pope Francis, 1)

We should always remember, “The creation of…wealth must always be at the service of the common good, and not only for the benefit of a few.” (Pope Francis, 3)

“[I]n a seemingly paradoxical way, free and disinterested solidarity is the key to the smooth functioning of the global economy.” (Pope Francis)

BOTTOM LINE

“[T]he various grave economic and political challenges facing today’s world require a courageous change of attitude that will restore to the end (the human person) and to the means (economics and politics) their proper place.” (Pope Francis)

Click the links below to learn how Catholic social teaching guides economics.