Socialism: Mortal Sin

Of importance in Mexican politics was a grave pronouncement at Mexico City last week in which the Catholic Church reviewed and re-emphasized its abhorrence of what the Church defines as Socialism.

"Venerable Brothers and Beloved Sons," began last week's Pastoral Letter, signed by Archbishop Pascual Diaz and all Catholic archbishops and bishops in Mexico. Its point: "No Catholic can be a Socialist, understanding by socialism the philosophical, economic or social system which, in one form or another, does not recognize the rights of God and the Church, nor the natural right of every man to possess the goods he has acquired by his work or has inherited legitimately, or which foments hatred and the unjust struggle of classes."

The Pastoral Letter challenges flatly the Act of 1934 making compulsory throughout Mexico education of a Socialist type, including explanation by grade school teachers of the care and use of sexual organs. Against this, in the case of young children, the abhorrence of the Church is maximum. Further, last week's Pastoral Letter explicitly declared that for a Catholic to be a Socialist, or study or teach Socialism, or cooperate to Socialist ends, or even for appearance's sake to feign to approve Socialism, is to commit a "mortal sin."

With President Lazaro Cardenas and the Socialist Mexican Cabinet evidently in mind, the Archbishops & Bishops closed with a prayer beseeching Jesus Christ "to illuminate those who have the grave responsibility of watching over the welfare of the nation, so that, leaving the path of error which leads only to degradation and misery, they may give the true guarantees and liberties which we need to achieve the peace, tranquillity, culture and prosperity of our beloved country."

Same day Socialist President Cardenas chanced to be obeying the Biblical injunction to beat swords into plowshares. Since an immense quantity of antiquated, rusting and useless munitions has piled up from Mexico's revolutions, the President recently ordered experiments to see if serviceable plows could be made from antiquated cannon. After seeing some of the experimental plows pass rigorous tests last week, President Cardenas ordered 300 tons of old cannon forged into 10,000 plows.

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