Subversion of the meaning of truth and violence

When modes of interpretation are applied to the economic, social, and political reality of today, which are themselves borrowed from Marxist thought, they can give the initial impression of a certain plausibility, to the degree that the present-day situation in certain countries is similar to what Marx described and interpreted in the middle of the last century. On the basis of these similarities, certain simplifications are made which, abstracting from specific essential factors, prevent any really rigorous examination of the causes of poverty and prolong the confusion.

This all-embracing conception thus imposes its logic and leads the "theologies of liberation" to accept a series of positions which are incompatible with the Christian vision of humanity. In fact, the ideological core borrowed from Marxism, which we are referring to, exercises the function of a determining principle. It has this role in virtue of its being described as "scientific", that is to say, true of necessity. In this core, we can distinguish several components.

According to the logic of Marxist thought, the "analysis" is inseparable from the praxis, and from the conception of history to which this praxis is linked. The analysis is for the Marxist an instrument of criticism, and criticism is only one stage in the revolutionary struggle. This struggle is that of the proletarian class, invested with its mission in history. Consequently, for the Marxist, only those who engage in the struggle can work out the analysis correctly.

The only true consciousness, then, is the partisan consciousness. It is clear that the concept of truth itself is in question here, and it is totally subverted: there is no truth, they pretend, except in and through the partisan praxis. (Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1984).