Communist Material

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Is it a sin(mortal or venial) for a Catholic to read, sell, share, or cause to be read or studied any Communist material such as The Daily Worker? Also, if it is a mortal sin, could the Catholic be excommunicated?
 
2425 The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modem times with “communism” or “socialism.” She has likewise refused to accept, in the practice of “capitalism,” individualism and the absolute primacy of the law of the marketplace over human labor.%between% Regulating the economy solely by centralized planning perverts the basis of social bonds; regulating it solely by the law of the marketplace fails social justice, for “there are many human needs which cannot be satisfied by the market.”%between% Reasonable regulation of the marketplace and economic initiatives, in keeping with a just hierarchy of values and a view to the common good, is to be commended

also read: ****
vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19031937_divini-redemptoris_en.html
 
algran said:
Is it a sin(mortal or venial) for a Catholic to read, sell, share, or cause to be read or studied any Communist material such as The Daily Worker? Also, if it is a mortal sin, could the Catholic be excommunicated?
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the Daily Worker is not communist material if you are referring the the newspaper founded by Dorothy Day. You have been misinformed. in many countries where the Communist party does have political strength and influence, the bishops have made membership a sin for Catholics. the daily worker does not and never has had any connection with the Communist Party in America, and its program is in fact directly contrary to the Communist Party agenda.
 
algran said:
Is it a sin(mortal or venial) for a Catholic to read, sell, share, or cause to be read or studied any Communist material such as The Daily Worker? Also, if it is a mortal sin, could the Catholic be excommunicated?
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Would the answer be more clear to you if you replaced “Communist material” with “Nazi material”? The Communists have, after all, killed twice as many people as the Nazis, and they are every bit as antagonistic towards Christianity and towards God-given human rights.
 
puzzleannie said:
the Daily Worker is not communist material if you are referring the the newspaper founded by Dorothy Day. You have been misinformed. in many countries where the Communist party does have political strength and influence, the bishops have made membership a sin for Catholics. the daily worker does not and never has had any connection with the Communist Party in America, and its program is in fact directly contrary to the Communist Party agenda.
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Um… IS a communist Newspaper
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Worker

SG
 
puzzleannie said:
sorry from your context and a previous post on a similar question I jumped to the conclusion you were talking about the Catholic Worker, published by the organization founded by Catholic activist Dorothy Day, thanks for the clarification.
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HaHaHa…yeah, I didn’t make the Dorothy Day-Daily Worker connection…I suppose not one of us is truly perfect, are we?

SG
 
Trelow said:
2425 The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modem times with “communism” or “socialism.” She has likewise refused to accept, in the practice of “capitalism,” individualism and the absolute primacy of the law of the marketplace over human labor.%between% Regulating the economy solely by centralized planning perverts the basis of social bonds; regulating it solely by the law of the marketplace fails social justice, for “there are many human needs which cannot be satisfied by the market.”%between% Reasonable regulation of the marketplace and economic initiatives, in keeping with a just hierarchy of values and a view to the common good, is to be commended

also read: ****
vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19031937_divini-redemptoris_en.html
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However Communism per se, I don’t think is a problem.
 
Arguably the early church (as depicted in Acts) was communist - insofar as they pooled all their money and the Apostles and Deacons dished it out to the community on a needs basis
 
Montalban said:
However Communism per se, I don’t think is a problem.
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It all depends on what you mean by communism.

The Church clearly condemns totalitarianism (the idea that a just society can be established by the State taking complete control of all aspects of life) and atheism. Forms of “communism” that are free from these defects might be OK.

I’m not a Catholic, so perhaps I have no business in this discussion. . . . To me the obviously erroneous premise (though one traditionally shared by many Christians) is that there is no value to reading anti-Christian literature. I think a lot can be learned from Communism.

And no, I don’t think Communism is on the same level as Nazism. How many people it killed is really not the point–that’s not the measure for how evil something is. Evil is the absence of good. The relevant question isn’t “how evil is this” but “how much good is in it.”

I would have no problem reading something by a person who was a Nazi. I would only read Nazi propaganda for specific historical purposes, and I’d be sure to cross myself first to keep off evil spirits. . . .

That wouldn’t be a bad idea when reading Communist material as well. But I do think that Marxism (not later manifestations of Communism such as Stalinism) has genuine value that Nazism lacks. In fact, I think comparing Marxism to Nazism is misleading–a better comparison would be of Marxism with thinkers who had some influence on Nazism, such as Nietzsche. I actually think Nietzsche has less redeeming value than Marx, but it seems that he has some.

Edwin

Edwin
 
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