By Sean O’Torain, in Chicago
The criminal activities of the full-time apparatus of popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, nuns, etc. of the Catholic Church that are now coming to light, are shaking that male-dominated, undemocratic anti-women, pro-capitalist organization to its foundations.
The Catholic Church is a religious/political organization, with its own ‘state’ in the Vatican. It has its own laws, so-called canon law. It has acted, and continues to act, as the dictatorship that it is. Its 1.2 billion members do not elect the leadership, nor are they allowed to speak at the regular gatherings of that organization known as masses. The unelected male leader gives the line from his raised platform, dressed in a uniform which is intended to intimidate and set him apart from the membership. And nobody is allowed to speak up and question him.
I still remember the furore it caused when back in Derry Northern Ireland an old-time member of the Irish Republican Army spoke up at a mass and challenged the priest. That only happened once. The present crisis of this Church is a criminal crisis of historic proportions. Inevitably, much of the discussion on this has focused on the structure, rules, organization and behaviour of the top caste which runs that organization. But there is a much wider issue here.
This Blog has continually pointed out that the Roman Catholic Church is the main church of capitalism and it is very conscious that it is so. From its hundreds of thousands of churches and centres, it props up capitalism. When in the 1970s, in Latin America, there developed a ‘Liberation Theology’ wing, which wanted to make it the Church of the poor rather than of the rich and of capitalism, this wing was crushed. The Catholic hierarchy cooperated with US imperialism and the CIA to put in place extreme right-wing dictatorships in Latin America especially, and these physically wiped out and murdered, many of the Liberation Theology activists – the Catholic Church’s own members. The present pope was part of this. Capitalism had to be defended. Capitalism and the Catholic church’s stake in capitalism came and comes first.
In this context it is important to look at the undemocratic so-called Supreme Court of the USA and the present battle over its newest member. This Blog believes that the Supreme Court is just one other blockage that US capitalism has put in place in case a majority – this is, the working class – ever gets control of the various elected houses of Congress and in the state legislatures and decides to act against the ruling capitalist class and capitalism.
People should not be confused by the changes for the better on voting rights, racial segregation and women’s rights which were voted through by the Supreme Court. These changes did not emanate from the Supreme Court: they were brought about by mass movements in society such as the workers’ movements in the 1930s, the black revolt and the women’s movements in the 1950s and 1960s as well as the change in the composition and increased diversity of the working class.
This is proven by the very simple fact that as these movements have receded into the past, the Supreme Court has been steadily eroding and taking back the gains that were made by these movements. George W. Bush, not being too bright, actually said once out loud, that the aim of his class in this period was to take back all that was gained by the mass movements in the 1930s and the 1960s. Roe versus Wade is now one of these gains that is in their sights.
Supreme Court dominated by catholics
What, readers may ask, has this got to do with the undemocratic, patriarchal, pro-capitalist Catholic Church and the crisis in that organization? Well it is not too hard to figure out. At present six of the nine, yes six of the nine members of the so-called Supreme Court are members of the Catholic Church. If this creature Kavanagh is elected to this Supreme Court, the nominee of the sexual abuser, racist and criminal Trump, it will be seven out of nine.
Imagine the uproar if seven of the nine members of the Supreme Court were members of some other male-dominated undemocratic religious/political outfit. One without the centuries-long tradition and record of defending capitalism. One less reliable than the Church of Rome from a capitalist point of view. One without the 1.2 billion members and the clout this gives its leadership. Imagine the uproar there would be if seven of the members of the so-called Supreme Court were Mormons or Muslims, or even worse, atheists. The weakening of the Catholic church means a weakening of capitalism. And this will be reflected inside this back stop of US capitalism at some stage, that is inside the so-called Supreme Court.
Church collaborates in restoration of capitalism
For our readers who consider that this is going too far, consider this. In the 1980s there developed a crisis in Stalinism in the then Soviet Union. When Stalinism was collapsing under its own internal contradictions, the Vatican met regularly with agents of the US capitalist class and its secret organizations to discuss strategy. The common aim was to make sure that when Stalinism collapsed that it would not be replaced with democratic socialism but with capitalism. The Roman Catholic hierarchy, American imperialism and the CIA worked hand in hand to this end. Popes over these years, spearheaded by the Polish leader, the self-named John Paul II, travelled to many of the then Stalinist countries to make sure that capitalism would replace Stalinism. They succeeded. When they complain about Putin, the present representative of Russian capitalism/imperialism, they conveniently leave out that bit of history that reveals how they played a major role in putting him and his class where is.
It is important to look at the present exploding crisis of the Catholic Church from a different point of view, that is from the point of view of capitalism. The crisis of the Catholic Church is very serious. There are now two popes in Rome. The question has to be raised – are they both infallible? This shakes the ideology of the Catholic hierarchy, which it uses to try and keep its members in line. As this charade goes on, there is one faction at the top of the Catholic hierarchy condemning the present pope and calling for him to resign. But they say that the popes are the voice of God on earth, so how can the voice of God resign? The lies and nonsense of the whole set-up is being exposed. To see this, all you have to do is look at the collapse of this organization in what was one of its stronghold for centuries – Ireland. The authority of the Catholic Church here has been shattered. Over two-thirds of the population in the Republic of Ireland recently voted to remove the ban on abortion.
But to get to my point on how this affects capitalism. The Catholic Church is the main church of capitalism. So as this organization is weakened, so its ability to defend capitalism is weakened. Its authority on this and on all fronts is weakened. Capitalism is being exposed on all fronts. With global warming, mass poverty, starvation, pollution, wars without end, the threat of nuclear war: capitalism needs all the help it can get. This will be even more so when the present economic cycle comes crashing down.
It is with this in mind that we should look back and remember that when the sexual abuse, mass rape, the killing of children, the slave labour of women, and other practices of the Catholic Church first began to be known the main public voice of the US capitalist class, the Wall Street Journal, came out and cautioned against too much criticism of the Catholic Church because, as it explained, it was an important part of and a prop for capitalism. This crisis in the Catholic church is not just a crisis for that organization; it is one of the many developing crises of capitalism, and one of the factors that will increasingly weaken capitalism.
Mass movements of hundreds of millions
The only reason that these many crises of capitalism and its organizations are not leading as yet to a mass movement of hundreds of millions against the system, is that the leaders of the workers’ organizations, the hundreds of millions strong trade unions and the mass workers parties internationally, where these mass parties still exist, are pro capitalist and are holding their members and their movement back.
In the near future world society is going to be wracked by major crises. There will inevitably be a major economic collapse. There will also increasingly be major environmental catastrophes. It is well known amongst journalists and scientists who focus on climate change that the issue with which the Pentagon is “obsessed” over all others is climate change. Such events will change the consciousness of the mass of the world’s population, to where the majority will see that fundamental change has to be made.
When this happens, one of capitalism’s major defenders and organizations, the Catholic Church, will be in a weaker position to defend it. Of course, all will still depend on whether a mass international socialist organization of tens and hundreds of millions will be built. Time is not in abundance.
1. September 9, 2018
From the American blogsite Facts for Working People, at
https://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/
