VATICAN CITY, April 21 (Reuters) - Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said in a video statement on Monday, ending an often turbulent reign marked by division and tension as he sought to overhaul the hidebound institution. He was 88, and had recently survived a serious bout of double pneumonia.
"Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis," Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican's TV channel.
"At 7:35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father."
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, surprising many Church watchers who had seen the Argentine cleric, known for his concern for the poor, as an outsider.
He sought to project simplicity into the grand role and never took possession of the ornate papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, saying he preferred to live in a community setting for his "psychological health".
He inherited a Church that was under attack over a child sex abuse scandal and torn by infighting in the Vatican bureaucracy, and was elected with a clear mandate to restore order.
But as his papacy progressed, he faced fierce criticism from conservatives, who accused him of trashing cherished traditions. He also drew the ire of progressives, who felt he should have done much more to reshape the 2,000-year-old Church.
While he struggled with internal dissent, Francis became a global superstar, drawing huge crowds on his many foreign travels as he tirelessly promoted interfaith dialogue and peace, taking the side of the marginalised, such as migrants.
Unique in modern times, there were two men wearing white in the Vatican for much of Francis' rule, with his predecessor Benedict opting to continue to live in the Holy See after his shock resignation in 2013 had opened the way for a new pontiff.
Benedict, a hero of the conservative cause, died in December 2022, finally leaving Francis alone on the papal stage.
Francis appointed nearly 80% of the cardinal electors who will choose the next pope correct as of February 2025, increasing the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies, despite the strong pushback from traditionalists.
Religion is generally not compatible with Marxism, given that it exists primarily to comfort people about their material conditions and encourages them that their next life is more important than the current one. The Catholic Church certainly isn't, they have been more cooperative with fascists than communists historically and only hinder class consciousness (not to mention being probably the world's largest institution of child abuse). It cannot be "fixed" anymore than capitalism can be fixed.
Frankly, this website shouldn't have a Christianity comm at all, but a majority of people here are Americans that don't read theory so
I agree with you in spirit but empirical evidence is that religion isn’t not yet obsolete in global south countries and enforcing state atheism a la afghan peoples republic would end in failure.
For global south comrades, anti-religion is a very unproductive stance to have. Unlike the west and especially protestant countries like the united states.
Religion will abolish itself when the material conditions are sufficient enough for its non-existence.
Lmao
Religion is "compatible" with Marxism in the sense that a Marxist state need have no problem with citizens who practice their religions in peace without theocracy, like (I believe) happens in Cuba. Any religion, when mixed with politics or money, results in disaster. The Catholic Church has a problematic history precisely because it mixed with the State since Roman times. A communist society would provide a more healthy environment for legitimate, non theocratic religion to develop. Religion would not mess with the State, which is great. And maybe less people would have Faith, but those who do would be more reasonable and authentic. In fact, a Liberation Theology priest once told me that real Christianity is never the majority. In societies such as Medieval Europe (and even the USA and Brazil today) that discriminate against non-Christians, people have an incentive to be fake Christians. But we don't have to litigate that here, I just wanted to clarify what I meant.
Regarding Hexbear sometimes talking about religion: religion still affects politics, so it cannot be ignored.
I don't think this is true. The influence of religion in Cuba (and China for that matter) is small enough that trying to convert everyone to atheism is understandably very low on their government's list of priorities.
The whole point of religion is to assure you that your suffering in this life is okay because you'll be rewarded in some future life. It's antithetical to a materialist worldview, to establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat. Like, there's a reason all the great Marxist authors were atheists.
Please read a book.
Am I wrong? Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, all preach that doing certain things in this life will reward you, either by going to heaven or escaping the cycle or whatever. Christianity explicitly teaches that being persecuted is to be expected and good. Any good deeds done by organized religion are incidental and easily outweighed by their harm.
I'm always surprised by how many people are willing to go to bat for religion on a supposedly leftist website.