"Unpublished work by John Paul II speaks [sic] debate"

From the National Catholic Register:

Unpublished work by John Paul II speaks debate
By JONATHAN LUXMOORE and JOLANTA BABIUCH

A little-known and unpublished work by Fr. Karol Wojtyla has touched off debate among experts across the globe about whether the future Pope John Paul II, as a young academic, had developed an appreciation of some aspects of Marxism as well as a strong critique of U.S.-style capitalism.

Aspects of Marxism? The negative aspects, or criticisms made by Marxists, but certainly not the 'positive' aspects, the Marxist philosophy and program?

The John Paul II Institute in Lublin, Poland, which is charged with Wojtyla’s pre-papal writings, has plans to publish the work in the near future. However, interpretations of the two-volume Katolicka Etyka Spoleczna (Catholic Social Ethics) have been bitterly contested, a debate touched off in Wojtyla’s homeland of Poland and beyond when the authors of this article first wrote about the unpublished volume in a cover story for the British Catholic weekly The Tablet last January.

The text contradicts views promoted by neoconservative thinkers who depict the pontiff as a lifelong fan of U.S.-style liberal capitalism. It also raises questions of why, when every detail of Wojtyla’s life has been combed over by researchers and biographers, mention of this 511-page work has apparently been avoided.

Yes, the Catholic neo-cons, trying to make the pope one of their own. Does anyone still believe them on this point?

Catholic Social Ethics originated as a series of lectures by Wojtyla in 1953-54, and was typed and bound for students and academics. It provides no evidence that the future pope had any direct political affiliation. However, it shows Wojtyla had acquired by his early 30s a sophisticated knowledge of Marxism and an empathy with its critique of capitalist injustices. It shows he had already rejected both “socialist totalism” and “individualistic liberalism” as prerequisites for a well-organized society.

His social encyclicals do not deviate from his early thought, then.

Then there are some comments about George Weigel and Lublin Archbishop Jozef Zycinski, who have tried to downplay the work.

Zycinski and his supporters will have trouble controlling public comment once Catholic Social Ethics is published. The bulk of the work is written as a response to Marxism. Wojtyla’s aim, he makes clear, isn’t to apply Marxism to Christianity, but to give Marxist concepts a Christian meaning, and win back the ideas of social justice that Marxism had expropriated.

Wojtyla traces communism itself back to Christian tradition, even subtitling one section “The Objective Superiority of the Communist Ideal.” But he makes clear he is using the term generically to mean common ownership. The church believes “the private ownership principle” can be upheld while “enfranchising the proletariat.”

“In the contemporary communist movement, the church sees and acknowledges an expression of largely ethical goals,” the future pope concedes.

Ethical goals? If he is referring to certain ends or goods to be pursued, then perhaps Marxism isn't completely wrong. But what about the means to those ends? That is what matters in determining the usefulness or validity of a secular ideology.

“In line with patristic traditions and the centuries-old practice of monastic life, the church itself acknowledges the ideal of communism. But it believes, given the current state of human nature, that the general implementation of this ideal -- while protecting the human person’s complete freedom -- faces insurmountable difficulties.”

The ideal of holding property in common. But it is difficult to implement this ideal while protecting freedom at the same time. Or is he saying more than this?

Catholicism cannot “agree with materialism” or the “primacy of economics,” Wojtyla writes. But it recognizes that “various facts and historical processes” are economically determined. “In a well organized society, orientated to the common good, class conflicts are solved peacefully through reforms. But states that base their order on individualistic liberalism are not such societies. So when an exploited class fails to receive in a peaceful way the share of the common good to which it has a right, it has to follow a different path.”

Individualistic liberalism... a definition would be nice just for the sake of completeness. Let us see if one is offered in the book.

“Class struggle should gain strength in proportion to the resistance it faces from economically privileged classes, so the systemic social situation will mature under this pressure to the appropriate forms and transitions,” Wojtyla continues.

Not sure what he is saying here--is he being naively optimistic? Mature? Does mature here have a positive connotation, similar to progress? Isn't it possible for class struggle to lead to greater fragmentation and possible civil unrest?

“Guided by a just evaluation of historical events, the church should view the cause of revolution with an awareness of the ethical evil in factors of the economic and social regime, and in the political system, that generates the need for a radical reaction. It can be accepted that the majority of people who took part in revolutions -- even bloody ones -- were acting on the basis of internal convictions, and thus in accordance with conscience.”

So they were acting in accordance with conscience? What if their conscience was poorly formed to begin with? Is the tyrant acting in accordance with his conscience if he's warped it? Or are we saying that the revolutionaries had their hearts in the right place, even if the means they chose were wrong? Or perhaps the majority of the revolutionaries were duped by bad leaders--this does not contradict what is written.

When the book is translated into English and published here, perhaps I will read it... or maybe not, since there isn't a pressing need to do so, since there are very few true Marxists. However economic reform is still needed, and a positive program, if there is one other than conversion and evangelization, remains a priority.