Pope Francis Meets Comrade Mr. President
Religion & Liberty Online

Pope Francis Meets Comrade Mr. President

acton-commentary-blogimageDuring his encounter with President Morales of Bolivia last week, Pope Francis was given a “communist cross.” In this week’s Acton Commentary Jorge Velarde Rosso explains why the gift was not so harmless.

Of course Morales had an agenda with that gift. It wasn’t an innocent gesture. Designed by the same Jesuit priest who had been honored by Francis a few minutes earlier, the pope’s “that is not OK” represented a correction to Morales. The fact, however, that Morales gave Francis this cross — it is unthinkable that anyone would have given John Paul II or Benedict XVI a cross in the shape of a symbol of death and oppression for millions, including the millions of Catholics who have suffered at the hands of Marxist regimes and movements — underscores that Morales didn’t think Francis would be offended. Indeed, only a few minutes later Pope Francis expressed his support for the work of Morales’ regime.

The full text of the essay can be found here. Subscribe to the free, weekly Acton News & Commentary and other publications here.

Joe Carter

Joe Carter is a Senior Editor at the Acton Institute. Joe also serves as an editor at the The Gospel Coalition, a communications specialist for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and as an adjunct professor of journalism at Patrick Henry College. He is the editor of the NIV Lifehacks Bible and co-author of How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator (Crossway).