I came across this rather old article and thought it merited a translation for the Feast of St. Francis in celebration of the universal wonder this great saint enjoys among the most unlikely characters, as he was the complete opposite of their atheistic ideologies. Some of our readers no doubt already know about Lenin’s ‘mea colpa’ but I did not and would like to share it with others who know nothing of these historical statements from the man and mastermind behind Soviet Communism. F.R.
Paolo Vicentin
«Avvenire»
12th July 2007
On his deathbed, Lenin
reflected bitterly on the necessity of violence. Yet, he concluded: "In a
hundred years, the Catholic hierarchy will still exist beneath the debris
of institutions."
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It was April 9th, 1917, when 31
Russian revolutionaries, led by Lenin, set out by train from their exile in
Switzerland. They were heading for Sweden, via Germany, in a sealed boxcar. The
German Reich government at the time had approved this passage through its
territory, hopeful that the Russian Revolution, already in progress, would bring
about a decisive blow to one of Germany's enemies at war with Russia.
As for Lenin, he was known to be an all-out
atheist. Nonetheless, a rather amazing statement by the dying revolutionary was
recorded later, which would appear to imply a repudiation of his entire life’s
work.
In the company of a former Hungarian priest, a colleague
journalist in Paris and confidant, and being certain of his impending death—as
the doctors had declared - Lenin acknowledged: "I was wrong. It was undeniably
necessary to liberate masses of people from repression, but our methods
resulted in the oppression and terrifying carnage of other oppressed
people."
He continued: "You know that my illness
will soon lead to my death, and I feel abandoned in the ocean of blood of
countless victims. This was necessary to save our Russia, but it's too late to
change now: we would need ten Francis of Assisi."
So wrote the Bishop of Regensburg, Rudolf
Graber, in a German Catholic publication in 1977, citing articles Viktor Bede
had written for L'Osservatore Romano, published on August 23 and September 24,
1924, and published unsigned. German journalist Hansjakob Stehle also discussed
these meetings between the former Hungarian cleric and Lenin, the founder of Communism in a book entitled Die Ostpolitik des
Vatikans.
Recalling his meetings with Lenin, Bede,
reported [in the Osservatore Romano] additional declarations by the
revolutionary: "Humanity is following the Soviet path, and in a hundred years
no other form of government will exist." He added: "I believe,
however, that beneath the rubble of the current institutions, the Catholic
hierarchy will still exist... in the next century there will be only one form
of government, the Soviet one, and one religion, the Catholic one." And
the dying Lenin had concluded: "It's a shame that we will no
longer exist..."
Viktor Bede's article "Lenin's Thoughts
on Catholicism" sustains that the author had met Lenin in Paris
through their “profession as journalists," describing their relationship
as "many-sided and cordial." A few months before the dictator's
death, he went to Moscow "to visit his old colleague in his private
residence in the Kremlin and was received with Lenin’s customary cordiality."
Bede further notes: "I was able to visit
him without great difficulty, since no one knew I was a former priest - except
him. And in this way, I was able to obtain important documents provided by the
dictator himself."
Bede continues: "As was customary, our
conversations were discussions rather than conversations, and I liked this, since
my interlocutor had retained all the simplicity and openness of the past, which
allowed me to remember more the friend and the journalist rather than the architect
of one of the most terrifying revolutions in history. From these private, one-to-one
encounters, I had the impression that the person portrayed as cruel and
tyrannical was, in his time, a victim of his own social concepts and that he - against his will - had been made to commit crimes, for reasons of the State..."
The former cleric continues: "In reality, in
spite of everything, to me he was as mild as I had once appreciated him in
Paris - the gentleness – you might say - of a man who had had much to endure. He suffocated the
idea he had of his mission, driven to a form of political mysticism - his own -
in his private sentiments - so as to allow the dictator free to decide, of his own accord,
to liberate humanity, by extending Soviet sovereignty over the entire world. He was deeply convinced of this ".
The report continues: "He said to me again one day: 'What do you want from me with the accusation that we Soviets resort to the use of violence and the most radical methods, to ward off from our nation all elements harmful to our program? You can't reasonably debate it, just as you can't debate a viper that stings you: you kill it. Many, unfortunately, don't see this, or, wickedly, are unable to understand the need to re-allocate their [material] surplus for the benefit of the multitudes who possess nothing: this is the reason for the relentless expropriation and extermination of those who oppose it.'"
Lenin later stated in another conversation:
"You see, humanity, almost by destiny, has embarked on the path of the
Soviet Union. It is only a matter of time. A century from now, there will be no
other form of government among civilized peoples. However, I believe that the
Catholic hierarchy will continue to exist, beneath the debris of the current
institutions, because within it, the education of those whose task it is to
lead others, is systematically carried out. No bishop or pope will be born, as a
prince, a king, or an emperor has been born up to now, because to become a
leader, a guide, in the Catholic Church, one must have already proven one's
ability. This wise disposition is the basis of the great moral strength of
Catholicism, which for two thousand years has withstood all storms and will
remain invincible in the future. The strength of this Church is total; it is a
moral force, not extorted. Humanity needs both these powers."
In the second article, which appeared in
L'Osservatore Romano on September 24, 1924, the author addresses the Russian
problem from the dictator's point of view. Bede reprimanded Lenin for lacking
any moral convictions, and for destroying them by uprooting religious
sentiments from the hearts of men. Lenin responded: "So you want me to let
your Brothers come so they can rouse the people up against the Soviets?" Bede
replied: "That the lives of our Brothers is the exercise of the purest
communism is confirmed by many centuries of experience: if one believes in the
possibility of educating the people towards fair-mindedness and altruism, no
better example can be offered than that of the members of our religious
orders." Bede continues: "Lenin fixed me with his penetrating eyes. I
realized that his thoughts were in turmoil, and I heard him murmer these words:
'No, it's not possible..."
Bede continues: "After waiting a while, I
insisted he guarantee religious freedom as his duty. Lenin stared at me with
his large eyes, without opening his mouth. Then, in a harsh, sarcastic tone, he
asked me: 'Did your Pope send you to me?' It was the tone of a dictator, no
longer that of a friend. I assured him that I had received no commission from
anyone, and that I had come to Moscow without mentioning the trip to anyone,
not even my most trusted friends. Lenin calmed down again and said: 'I admire
you... I feel I will live only a short time. What you think is too beautiful
for me to express, too great for me to realize. There will be others, I hope,
who, instead of violent measures and crimes, will adopt the methods you propose
to make humanity happy.'"
This second article by the former priest
concludes: "It was therefore too late: the terrible dictator felt he no
longer possessed the strength to accept the great ideas he still admired. He beleived he no longer had the strength to destroy the 'gang' that held him captive,
after it had elevated him to the throne of the Tsars." In short, the
father of the Bolshevik revolution said he was disgusted by the horrors he had
wrought, but he justified them. Lenin died shortly afterwards. His will was
published: "But is this really Lenin's will?" asks Viktor Bede. "I doubt it very much..."
These were singular
conversations which were also cited by the historian Andrze J. Kaminski in his
book I campi di concentramento dal 1896 a oggi (Bollati Boringhieri
1997) and by Vatican expert Sergio Trasatti in his book La croce e la stella
(Mondadori 1993). There is no doubt about their
authenticity, stated the Bishop of Regensburg, Rudolf Graber, in 1977,
emphasizing that something needed to be added to Lenin's image, however, with
these words: "I am not in a position to say whether the reported conversations
represent a condemnation of his work; nevertheless, they are worth our
reflection."
«Avvenire» 12th July 2007
*Between 1942 and 1945, sixty-five Franciscan friars were murdered in Bosnia Herzegovina and of these, thirty were from Široki Brijeg monastery community, with another four from the surrounding monastery area. The soldiers also destroyed the friary. In the course of their destruction, they wiped away the names of God, along with a dedication to the Assumption of the Mother of God, from the main entrance to the friary, and burnt the monastery. (https://www.maristmessenger.co.nz/2020/08/31/the-martyrs-of-siroki-brijeg/)
Sources: https://terzotriennio.blogspot.com/2007/07/il-mea-culpa-di-lenin.html
https://www.lavocedifiore.org/SPIP/article.php3?id_article=2372
