Francis, the Popular Movements and The Hammer & Sickle
image:Bergoglio speaks at the meeting of communist movements he convoked
On July 9, 2015 at the Second World Meeting of Popular Movements in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia, Pope Francis delivered a long and impassioned speech against capitalism and private property to the applause of Marxist revolutionary leaders and followers of Liberation Theology.
Among those leaders, in addition to Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, whose jacket bore a large picture of bloody-thirsty "Che" Guevara, were Brazilian Juan Pedro Stedile, leader of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) that has promoted revolutionary violence for decades in the Brazilian countryside, and Argentine Trotskytist Juan Grabois, a specialist in promoting urban agitation on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, head of the Confederation of Popular Economy and a member of the organizing committee of the Second World Meeting of Popular Movements.
Along with other delegates present, these people rank among the worst Latin American revolutionary leaders that remain from the times of Communism. Yet, Francis treated them as if they were the very best of the best, asserting that their actions were "motivated by brotherly love," promoting "positive change" in society and representing the genuine work of “social poets.”
Francis encouraged them on, saying, “Our faith is revolutionary," adding, “I have carried you in my heart." Francis’ support of these revolutionary shock troops could not have been greater.
“Chavez died and Fidel is sick. Francis has taken up that leadership role and is doing everything right,” boasted Juan Pedro Stedile of Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement (MST), one of the organizers of the Second World Meeting of Popular Movements, speaking during the event at Santa Cruz de la Sierra (cf. Fabiano Maisonnave, special envoy to Bolivia, in Folha de S. Paulo, July 8, 2015).
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