Pope Francis: “…it is the communists who think like Christians”

Pope Francis climbs the steps to the altar upon arriving to give the first mass of his visit to Cuba in Havana’s Revolution Square, Sept. 20.

Last week, Pope Francis told Italian journalist and co-founder of the newspaper La Repubblica Eugenio Scalfari that “…it is the communists who think like Christians.”

Here is the exchange:

Q: You told me some time ago that the precept, “Love your neighbour as thyself” had to change, given the dark times that we are going through, and become “more than thyself.” So you yearn for a society where equality dominates. This, as you know, is the programme of Marxist socialism and then of communism. Are you therefore thinking of a Marxist type of society?

A: “It it has been said many times and my response has always been that, if anything, it is the communists who think like Christians. Christ spoke of a society where the poor, the weak and the marginalized have the right to decide. Not demagogues, not Barabbas, but the people, the poor, whether they have faith in a transcendent God or not. It is they who must help to achieve equality and freedom”.

Pope Francis also used a familiar progressive expression surrounding immigrants. He said in part, “…we need to break down walls and build bridges…” The pontiff said in part:

We must break down the walls that divide us: we must try to increase well-being and make it more widespread, but to achieve this we need to break down walls and build bridges that allow us to reduce inequality and increase freedom and rights. More rights and greater freedom.”

Wall at Vatican City