Author: Lisa Graas, assisted by Grok.
Fulton Sheen, a prominent American Catholic bishop, writer, and radio and television personality, was a vocal critic of communism, reflecting the Catholic Church’s longstanding opposition to this ideology. Here’s an exploration of why the Catholic Church, through the lens of Sheen’s insights, opposes communism:
Inherent Opposition to Human Dignity
Fulton Sheen articulated that communism fundamentally contradicts the Catholic understanding of human dignity:
- Sheen Quote: “Communism begins with the denial of the right to private property, which is an attack on the person, for his body is his own private property.”
This reflects the Church’s teaching that human beings have inherent rights, including the right to private property, which communism seeks to abolish. The Church sees the right to own property as a natural extension of human dignity and freedom, which communism undermines.
Materialism vs. Spiritualism
Sheen emphasized the materialistic nature of communism, which he opposed to the spiritual essence of Catholicism:
- Sheen Quote: “Communism is not only an economic interpretation of history; it is a philosophy of materialism which reduces everything to the economic. The Church, on the other hand, sees man as a spiritual being with an immortal soul.”
The Catholic Church teaches that humans are not merely economic units or cogs in a machine but are spiritual beings with a destiny beyond the material world. Communism, with its focus on class struggle and economic determinism, neglects this spiritual dimension, which Sheen and the Church find fundamentally flawed.
Attack on Religion
Sheen was particularly vocal about communism’s atheistic stance and its active suppression of religion:
- Sheen Quote: “Communism is Christianity’s most formidable and direct assault because it is its antithesis and denies the existence of God.”
The Church sees communism’s atheism and its historical persecution of religious practices as an assault on freedom of religion and an attempt to replace faith with state ideology. This is contrary to the Church’s mission to uphold the freedom to worship and the sanctity of religious life.
Social Justice vs. Forced Equality
While the Church advocates for social justice, Sheen highlighted that communism’s approach to achieving equality was coercive and contrary to the natural law:
- Sheen Quote: “Communism seeks to level all by the destruction of the natural distinctions and inequalities; Christianity, on the other hand, seeks to elevate all by the recognition of the dignity of each soul.”
Here, Sheen contrasts the Church’s view of social justice, which respects individual dignity and personal freedom, with communism’s attempt to enforce equality through the eradication of personal freedoms, including economic freedom.
Historical Church Teachings
Sheen’s views were also in line with numerous papal encyclicals and Church documents that critiqued communism:
- Pope Pius XI’s encyclical “Divini Redemptoris” (1937) explicitly condemned communism, particularly its atheistic materialism. Sheen echoed this when he said:
- Sheen Quote: “Communism is the most effective poison that has ever been invented by the mind of man to destroy Christianity.”
Conclusion
Through Fulton Sheen’s quotes, we see a reflection of the Catholic Church’s opposition to communism based on several key issues:
- Human Dignity: Communism’s denial of private property and personal freedom.
- Spiritual Neglect: Its materialistic philosophy ignoring the spiritual nature of man.
- Religious Suppression: Communism’s inherent atheism and historical actions against religious freedom.
- Forced Equality: A coercive approach to social equality that contravenes natural law and human dignity.
These points encapsulate why the Catholic Church, as articulated by Sheen, has consistently stood against communism, seeing it as antithetical to its teachings on human dignity, spiritual life, and the natural order established by God.
