Michael Knowles

But in any case, he's made an egregious error by saying that Christianity is socialist.

And it's tragic because he could have made a good point.

There is a good point that he could have made, but he didn't.

The way I know that Christianity is not socialist is on the one hand, we have this guy, Nathan Apfel, who says Christianity at its core is socialist.

On the other hand, we have blessed Pope Pius IX,

who describes socialism as a wicked theory that would, quote, overthrow the entire order of human affairs.

Pope Leo XIII calls socialism a hideous deformity of the civil society of men and almost its ruin, calls socialists a seditious society.

Pope Pius XI says that socialism is fundamentally contrary to Christian truth, says that socialism is based nevertheless on a theory of human society peculiar to itself and irreconcilable with true Christianity.

Religious socialism, Christian socialism are contradictory terms.

No one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist.

Pope John XXIII, who's actually a pretty liberal pope, unlike Pius IX, who started out liberal, became very, very conservative.

Pope Leo XIII, who was kind of...

He appeals to both the left and the right, but he's more of a conservative figure than Pope Pius XI, very conservative.

Pope John XXIII is considered a more liberal pope.

He said in no uncertain terms, no Catholic could subscribe even to moderate socialism.

Socialism is anathema from the Christian perspective.

I could go on.

I could quote Saint Paul VI, Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI.

You get the point.

No, Christianity is not in any sense socialist.