Pope John Paul II Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Michael Sean Winters

Critical Essay by Michael Sean Winters

SOURCE: “Old Faithful: John Paul v. Modernity,” in New Republic, February 9, 1998, pp. 16, 18.

In the following essay, Winters discusses John Paul's opposition to Marxism, capitalism, and modern technological societies.

In a country accustomed to one message and one messenger, the Pope's visit to Cuba is the stuff of high political drama, certainly a more provocative threat to Castro's regime than the Helms-Burton Act. For weeks now, the U.S. press has been buzzing with speculation as to whether the Pope may precipitate the fall of communism in Cuba—finally succeeding where generations of U.S. policy-makers have failed. After all, as Newsweek cheerfully notes, “this well-traveled Pope has crusaded with fervor against his old Communist foes.”

But make no mistake: while the Pope is happy to praise democracy, he is no champion of capitalist values out to slay the last defender of Marxism. In fact, as Castro has gleefully observed,...
(read more)