Pope Francis: friend of the poor? On Monday 21 April, Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88. During his time at the Holy See, he had been charged with laundering the image of the Church, with giving it a ‘human face’, and stemming the crisis of that institution. Whatever else one thinks of him, he certainly executed his role with skill, but the job was itself impossible. The crisis of the Church continued apace and it will accelerate after his death.
The reformist left has lost its Pope The recent death of Pope Francis has dominated politics and the media in Italy this week. Amidst the unending chorus of Francis’ sycophants, however, the reformist left have been keen to make their voices heard, celebrating the life of this supposedly ‘revolutionary’, ‘anti-capitalist’ figure. We publish below a translation of an article by the Partito Comunista Rivoluzionario – the Italian section of the Revolutionary Communist International – explaining the truth about Pope Francis and clearly stating the communist position on the reactionary institution of the Catholic Church.
On Kautsky’s Foundations of Christianity – introduction to the new German edition To mark the holiday period, we republish the following introduction by Alan Woods to a German edition of Karl Kautsky's excellent text, The Foundations of Christianity. Originally published 23 September 2011, Alan outlines the significance of this work, and gives an overview of Kautsky's historical materialist account of the origins of the Christian faith.
