Theology Serving Communist Ideology on the Example of the Literary Work of P. Josef Plojhar

Abstract

This year marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of the infamous Catholic priest, the ardent servant of the communist regime and politician Fr. Josef Plojhar. This study intends to address the hitherto neglected side of this figure, namely his literary work, which is very rich. Shortly after his ordination in 1927, he published a high-quality treatise on stigmatised Therese Neumann of Konnersreuth. In 1930, at his own expense, he published a small pamphlet in German for the International Eucharistic Congress in Carthage he participated in. However, most of his works were from the post-war period when he was already completely committed to communist ideology. We will focus our attention on his work: Two Years with People: Speeches and Articles from 1948 – 1949. The aim of this type of Plojhar’s publishing activity was to prove that Communists were not the main enemies of the faith and Christian religion, but that Christian views on neighbourly love and Christian solidarity were exactly the same as the Commu-nists’ efforts to achieve a world without exploiters and the bourgeoisie.