Pope Francis: Catholicism, Peronism, and the Temptation of Ideological Dreaming

Abstract

This article explores the (qualified) Peronism of the Argentinian pope, his tendency to redefine Catholic thought in a broadly humanitarian and progressivist direction, and his questionable advocacy of enhanced Christian-Communist collaboration. By confusing compassion with charity, pacifism with peace, and the universality of the Christian religion with the effacement of national distinctions, Francis has weakened the Catholic Church's long-time refusal to identify freedom, justice, and peace with “ideological dreaming.” Special attention is paid to the pope's largely "humanitarian" reading of the Parable of the Good Samaritan in his 2020 encyclical Fratelli tutti.