Communism as a Spiritual Attack on Man

Abstract

Marxist ideology, and later the practice of the communist state, denied the essential goals of education, making it an important tool for indoctrination. Man ceased to be the highest value, and was replaced by other values that were lower than him. The communist program of raising children and youth in atheism, without God, was an attack on all believers, because it impacted the future of any religion in Russia. The pontificate of John Paul II, the first Pope from a communist country, was impor tant in determining the threat of Marxism. In the encyclical „Laborem Exercens” the Pope stated that “by the use of various kinds of influence, including revolutionary pres sure, it aims to win a monopoly of power in each society.” (LE, 11). The fundamental as sessment of Marxism was made by John Paul II in response to social issues posed by the so-called theology of liberation. This power reaches deep and is vast, because it affects the whole person, in all dimensions of his existence.