Marxianity
Sir: The reasons for the churches' approval of Marxist regimes may be many but the most obvious one is fear. Fear on the part of church leaders in the countries concerned that they will be imprisoned or put to death and that the Church will be driven out of those countries. This would mean that the Church would have to go underground and be unable to play a significant political role in the country.
The Vatican in particular seems to delight in political intrigue and preserving the status quo at the expense of Christianity and people like Cardinal Mindszenty. The prevailing doctrine in the world at the present time seems to be Marxism, but given the passage of time and changing circumstances Fascism could become the doctrine of the day. I am sure that the Church would accommodate itself to, and condone, a change of this sort as it has done in the past.
The Roman Catholic Church is not the only one to mould Christian principles and beliefs to suit the prevailing political climate. Perhaps it can do this more effectively than anyone else because it has a centralised government and years of practice behind it.
Most of the institutional churches seem to have lost the vision of what Christianity is about. They try to disguise their confusion by supporting all shades of political opinion from Frelimo to Phalangists, under the premise that the aims of these groups can be identified with the coming of the Kingdom on earth. The prefatory words to the article by Lenin are prophetic and true. We have only to listen to the pronouncements of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican to see them coming true. Richard Budgen 242 Abingdon Road, Oxford
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