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RON FRASERCOLUMNIST
Pope Benedict and NationalSocialism—the Connection
July 13, 2009 | From theTrumpet.com
Few commentators have picked up on the connection between PopeBenedict’s recent encyclical on the global economy and Nazi ideology.
 
C
ause and effect. There’s a binding universal law that connects the two. So it is withPope Benedict’s most recent, long-awaited encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate” (“In Charityand Truth”)
.
That encyclical is inherently joined to a consistent theme that has runthrough Catholic social doctrine over the past 120 years, finding its most extreme politicaloutlet in the National Socialism that gripped Europe in the wake of the great global crisisof the 1920s and ’30s.Is it entirely coincidental that this pope would choose the worst global economic crisissince the Great Depression to profoundly endorse those same principles that laced theeconomic theories of fascism and Nazism just one lifetime ago during a similar crisis?Pope Benedict’s encyclical is the latest contribution to Catholic economic theory,traditionally known as Catholic social doctrine. That doctrine is founded upon PopeLeo
XIII
’s encyclical “Rerum Novarum” (“On the Condition of Labor”), issued in 1891 inresponse to the tensions that resulted between capital and labor in the wake of theIndustrial Revolution. It endorsed an essentially
socialist 
approach to economic control.Building upon the theme established in “Rerum Novarum,” Pope Pius
XI
issued hisencyclical of May 15, 1931, titled “Quadragesimo Anno” (“On the Reconstruction of theSocial Order”). The text of that encyclical introduced the concept of 
subsidiarity 
that haslong since become a catch cry of the European Union.Pope John
XXIII
followed up with the introduction of the theme of globalism, calling for allpeoples to live as
one community 
working for the
common good,
in his encyclical titled “Mater et Magistra” (“Christianity and Social Progress”), issued May 15, 1961. Thispublicized the concept of a global “common market,” working for the good of the “globalcommunity,” themes that are deeply embedded in the general philosophy that is behinddevelopment of the EU.The theme of 
solidarity 
then threaded its way into Catholic social doctrine with therelease of the encyclical “Populorum Progressio” (“The Development of Peoples”) by PopePaul
VI
, March 26, 1967. Twenty years later, “Solidarity” became the motto of the Vatican-
 
sponsored Polish workers movement, which was the prime mover behind the effort tobreak the Communist yoke on Eastern Europe thus enabling the EU to build its long-awaited eastern leg (Daniel 2:33). On the eve of that momentous change in the map of Europe, Pope John Paul
II
marked the 20th anniversary of “Populorum Progressio” withthe release of his own encyclical on social doctrine, “Sollicitudo Rei Socialis” (“On theSocial Concerns of the Church”), Dec. 30, 1987. That encyclical, produced less than twoyears prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, was a reflection on the great social changes thathad affected the world over the previous 20 years, destined to consummate in thecollapse of Communist rule in Eastern Europe at the turn of the last decade of the 20thcentury.In hislatest encyclical, Pope Benedict
XVI
expresses the conviction that Pope Paul
VI
’s “Populorum Progressio” “deserves to be considered ‘the “Rerum Novarum” of the presentage,’ shedding light upon humanity’s journey towards unity.” It is a peculiarity of papal encyclicals on social doctrine that—from the founding documentdefining Catholic social doctrine, Leo’s “Rerum Novarum,” to Paul
VI
’s overtly socialist “Popularum Progresso”—all support
the intervention of the state in economic planningand control,
as against the free enterprise system. This, of course, has ancient originstracking back to the interventionism of the Holy Roman Empire, and even more ancientlyto old Babylon.Knowing the history of Rome’s approach to economic theory and, more importantly, theBible prophecies that bespeak its effect on our immediate future, it ought to come as nosurprise to our readers to see that Pope Benedict has endorsed such a central role for thestate. In fact, reading both the lines and in between the lines of his latest encyclical, thispope is calling for a
world order regulated and controlled by a central power that would govern the world economy.
And what does he think that central power should be?Here’s a hint. Check the vocabulary of the public communication surrounding the oneinstitution—a “common market”—that possesses an overwhelming lust to become arecognized world power despite its present hodgepodge of 27 differing bickeringnationalities. Which great trading empire has used the following terms in the process of its evolution to global power status: “one community,” “solidarity,” “subsidiarity”—termsthat come right out of encyclicals on the global economy emanating from Rome?If you guessed
the European Union,
you’re right on the money!Now, which institution has maneuvered to have all 20 of the world’s greatest economiessign up to one
central power,
one governing
global authority,
to
regulate
their individualand collective national economies?You got it right if you again guessed the EU!Finally, which head of a powerful religious institution has recently recommended that theworld submit to a singular central authority to govern the world economy?
 
Very obviously, Pope Benedict
XVI
in his recently released encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate.” Join the dots.The cruncher is contained in paragraph 67 of chapter 5 of this latest papal missive. It is astatement that has been anticipated by many, ever since Herbert Armstrong prophesiedover 70 years ago of its coming reality “in our time.” Here are relevant excerpts from thatsection of Benedict’s message released last week to coincide very directly with themeeting of the leaders of the top eight economies of the world at the G-8 summit inL’Aquila, Italy (emphasis mine):[T]here is
a strongly felt need,
even in the midst of a global recession,
for a reform of …economic institutions and international finance,
so that the concept of the family of nations can
acquire real teeth.
… This seems necessary
in order to arrive at a political, juridical and economic order which can increase and give direction to international cooperation
for the development of all peoples in
solidarity 
. To
manage the global economy 
…
there is urgent need of a true world political authority 
…. Such an authoritywould need to be
regulated by law,
to observe consistently the principlesof 
subsidiarity 
and
solidarity,
to seek to establish the
common good 
….Where is there, today, a
 political, juridical 
and
economic 
order, a
common
market,established for the “common good” under central control, incorporating the principlesof 
subsidiarity 
and
solidarity? 
We need look no further than that very German-RomanCatholic idea that has become a political reality in the form of the European Union.If we truly can connect the dots between Pope Benedict’s latest encyclical, the GermanicEuropean Union, the EU-controlled Financial Stability Board (to whose regulatory powerall major world economies must now submit) and the origins of Catholic social doctrine,then we will begin to understand that we are being led by the nose down the road toglobal disaster.Here’s the real shocker. Pope Benedict’s call for a global “new financial order” is basedupon the very foundational tenets of fascism and Nazism!The connection between the fathers of both National Socialist doctrine and modernCatholic social doctrine is irrefutable. One of the principal minds that crafted the earliesteconomic philosophy of 20th-century Nazism belonged to German theologian andpolitician Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler.As bishop of Mainz, von Ketteler had profound influence on the framing of Pope Leo
XIII
’sencyclical “Rerum Novarum.” He was a disciple of Ferdinand Lassalle, German Jewishsocialist and political activist of whom it was said, “Lassalle was the first man in Germany,the first in Europe, who succeeded in organizing a party of socialist action. Nevertheless,if he had not unfortunately been born a Jew, Lassalle could also be hailed as a forerunnerin the vast halls where National Socialism [Nazism] is acclaimed today” (
CambridgeEncyclopedia
). Lassalle founded the first Workers Party in Germany, the
ADEV
, which laterchanged its name to the Social Democratic Party under Hitler’s finance minister, Dr.Hjalmar Schacht. It is said Schacht played a crucial role in bringing the Hitler regime to
of 00

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