Kristen Van Uden Theriault begins chapter two of her new book When the Sickle Swings: Stories of Catholics Who Survived Communist Oppression with a chilling account of how the new communist educators in Cuba sought to manipulate their students to place devotion to the state above faith in God.
In 1961, an instructor ordered their young Catholic school class in Havana to form a line.
“Close your eyes! Hold out your hands!”
Though perhaps confused by the commands, the students dutifully comply with their Fidel Castro-worshipping teacher’s instructions.
“Ask God for a piece of candy,” said the teacher.
Unsurprisingly, the confectionary did not magically materialize in any of the students’ outstretched hands.
“Now, ask Fidel for a piece of candy.”
Theriault told The Catholic Register the “teachers would go around and distribute candy to everyone in the class to drive home this concept that Fidel is the provider of everything you could need. God is a lie. God is a fake. God is dead. And this point was made in a very heavy-handed way to the most vulnerable, youngest population to try and form this new communist band of atheists for the next generation.”
She compared Castro’s “self-aggrandizement” as “very akin to the pride of Satan.”
An editor for the Catholic Exchange media platform and an author-spokesperson for Sophia Institute Press, Theriault’s desire to learn about Catholics who relied on their faith to withstand socialist persecution stemmed from her long-time fascination with the concept of martyrdom. She's always revered the many famous saints who died for their faith and came to admire the many Catholics who defiantly stood by their beliefs even though it was outright illegal in many communist regimes, where the consequences of disobedience could be deadly.
Her book venerates the bishops who celebrated Mass and offered the sacraments in the underground Church in former Czechoslovakia and the political prisoners and freedom fighters with unyielding spiritual stamina as they refused to capitulate to a soul-destroying re-engineering of their convictions.
In addition to chronicling the communist atrocities in Cuba and Czechoslovakia, Theriault also profiled individuals who endured the former Marxist-Leninist republics established in Romania and Hungary following the Second World War.
Millions of Catholics throughout the 20th century were stripped of their homes and possessions, jailed in prisons or refugee camps and subjected to starvation, physical beatings, disenfranchisement and psychological torture. Theriault vividly documents all the barbarisms perpetrated in these totalitarian empires in When the Sickle Swings.
Arguably, the most enriching aspect of the book is how the author dissects and critiques liberation theology and the other false utopian doctrines dictators peddled upon the masses.
Echoing the serpent in the Garden of Eden who deceitfully promised Eve in Genesis 3 that she and Adam would be like God if they ate from the forbidden tree, Karl Marx and his acolytes sought for man to usurp and erase the Lord.
Of communism, Theriault writes, “it proclaims that humanity can save itself: through science, ingenuity, economic prosperity and social principles divorced from their ethical roots. That man is in control of his destiny, has become his own god, a god who acts through the will of the proletariat and its keepers.”
Religion is not tolerated in such a “worker’s paradise.” Traditional Christianity and Catholicism were branded as enslaving, divisive and outdated belief systems by the ruling class. New dogmas, particularly liberation theology, were propagated.
Developed by Catholic theologians such as the Brazilian Dominican Friar Frei Betto, Peruvian philosopher Gustavo Gutiérrez and the Jesuits Juan Luis Segundo and Jon Sobrino, liberation theology became popularized throughout 1960s Latin America. It prescribed that one of a Christian’s utmost priorities is dedicating time and effort to lifting the poor and oppressed groups out of their unfortunate socioeconomic status. Sobrino popularized the phrase “preferential option for the poor.” He and his contemporaries emphasized praxis (practice) over doctrine in evangelization efforts.
“We see this co-opting of the faith and this sort of corruption of it into socialism light,” said Theriault. “Liberation theology basically is a socialist doctrine cloaked in Catholic Scripture quotes and charitable work. It kind of reduces the faith from a supernatural means of salvation to merely a humanitarian organization that relieves the class struggle.”
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, addressed the theology of liberation in multiple encyclicals published during his 23 years as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In 1984’s Instruction on certain aspects of the “Theology of Liberation,” the future pontiff warned the faithful of deviances “damaging to the faith and to Christian living" spawned “by certain forms of liberation theology, which use, in an insufficiently critical manner, concepts borrowed from various currents of Marxist thought.”
While not wanting to communicate “a disavowal of all those who want to respond generously and with an authentic evangelical spirit to the ‘preferential option of the poor,’ ” Ratzinger warned against the politicization of sacred beliefs and traditions. The German theologian warned that under liberation theology, “Eucharist is no longer to be understood as the real sacramental presence of the reconciling sacrifice and as the gift of the Body and Blood of Christ. It becomes a celebration of the people in their struggle. As a consequence, the unity of the Church is radically denied.”
Catholics who survived communist oppression during the 20th century exhibited an unshakeable resolve amid “the doctrine of the antichrist,” which is how Theriault characterizes communism.
There are indeed Catholics and Christians being subjected to communist repression today. What lessons can they learn from the figures documented in When the Sickle Swings about how to survive?
“A constant reminder from everyone I spoke to was that keeping the faith, keeping your own soul clean and making sure that you don't lose the internal battle were the most important things at the end of the day,” said Theriault. “They kept their eyes on the next life, which ultimately communism doesn't do because it posits an earthly utopia. But these Catholics made sure to remember that this is just the cross that they were bearing throughout this life.
“Ultimately, the call of all of us is martyrdom, whether that's red or white, and to keep the faith to the end is the only thing that matters."