Religion and Socialism in the Long 1960s

University of Groningen

Religion and Socialism in the Long 1960s

Toth, Helena; Weir, Todd

Publishedin: Contemporary European History

DOI: 10.1017/S0960777320000077

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Toth, H., & Weir, T. (2020). Religion and Socialism in the Long 1960s: From Antithesis to Dialogue in Eastern and Western Europe ContemporaryEuropeanHistory, 29(2), 127-138. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960777320000077

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ContemporaryEuropeanHistory(2020), 29, 127–138

doi:10.1017/S0960777320000077

ReligionandSocialismintheLong1960s:FromAntithesis

toDialogueinEasternandWesternEurope

HelénaTóth andToddH.Weir

HistoryDepartment,Otto-Friedrich-University,Fischstrasse5/7,96047Bamberg,Germany helena.toth@uni-bamberg.de

OneofthemostremarkabletransformationsofEuropeansocietyandpoliticsduringtheColdWarperiod wasinrelationsbetweensocialismandreligion.Extremehostilitybetweenrevolutionarysocialismand Christianityhadbeenastructuralcomponentofmajorpoliticalconflictsinthetrans-warperiodof 1914to1945.WithaneyetoviolenceagainstchurchesinMexico,SpainandtheSovietUnion,Pope PiusXIhaddeclaredin1937that ‘forthefirsttimeinhistorywearewitnessingastruggle,cold-blooded inpurposeandmappedouttotheleastdetail,betweenmanand “allthatiscalledGod”’.Uponthe GermaninvasionofhisnativeNetherlandsin1940,Europe’sleadingecumenicalspokesmanWillem Visser ’tHooftsimilarlyspokeoftheChristianstruggleagainstgodlessnessas ‘awarbehindthewar’ thathadbegun ‘longbeforeSeptember1939andwillcertainlygoonlongafteranarmisticehasbeenconcluded’ . 1 ThishostilityflowedintotheacceleratingpolarisationofEuropeanpoliticsanddiplomacyinthe immediatepost-warperiodthatledtotheColdWar.2 EventssuchastheexchangeoflettersbetweenUS PresidentHarryS.TrumanandPopePiusXIIin1946confirmingtheChristiancoreofWesterncivilisationortheshowtrialofCardinalJózsefMindszentyinHungaryin1949weremomentsofdeepsymbolic significancethatweldedreligiontothesolidifyingpoliticalrhetoric.3 AsDianneKirbywrites, ‘formany wholivedthroughtheperiod,theColdWarwasoneofhistory’sgreatreligiouswars,aglobalconflict betweenthegod-fearingandthegodless’ 4 Inthe1960s,however,thesituationchangeddramatically. NewencountersbetweenMarxistsandChristianschallengedthemilitantanti-religiousandanti-socialist rhetoricthathaddominatedEuropeforalmosthalfacentury.IftheAmericanmovie GuiltyofTreason (1950)aboutthetrialandtortureofCardinalMindszentyencapsulatesatleastinparttheplaceofreligion in1950sColdWarculture,thespiritofthemid-1960swascharacterisedbyPaoloPasolini’ s TheGospel AccordingtoMatthew (1964),forwhichtheItalianMarxistdirectorearnedhighpraisefromCatholicand ProtestantcriticsalikeandwonthespecialjuryprizeattheVeniceFilmFestival.5

1 DiviniRedemptoris,§22(AAS29[1937])Vaticanencyclicalsonline: http://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encycli cals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19370319_divini-redemptoris.html.JurjenA.Zeilstra, EuropeanUnityinEcumenical Thinking,1937–1948 (PhD,Utrecht1995),inpartic.80.

2 WilliamInboden, ReligionandAmericanForeignPolicy,1945–1960:TheSoulofContainment (NewYork:Cambridge UniversityPress,2008);AndrewPreston, ‘TheReligiousTurninDiplomaticHistory’,inFrankCostigliolaandMichael J.Hogan,eds., ExplainingtheHistoryofAmericanForeignRelations (NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2016),284–303.

3 DianeKirby, ‘HarryTruman’sReligiousLegacy:TheHolyAlliance,ContainmentandtheColdWar’,inDianeKirby,ed., ReligionandtheColdWar (London:PalgraveMcMillan,2003),77–102;PaulBetts, ‘Religion,ScienceandCold-War Anti-Communism:The1949CardinalMindszentyShowTrial’,inPaulBettsandStephenA.Smith,eds., Science, ReligionandCommunisminColdWarEurope (London:PalgraveMcMillan,2916),275–306.

4 Kirby, ReligionandtheColdWar, 1.Morerecentstudieshavefocusedonthepoliticaldimensionsofpersonalpiety: MoniqueScheer, ‘CatholicPietyintheEarlyColdWarYears,orHowtheVirginMaryProtectedtheWestfrom Communism’,inAnetteVownickel,MarcusM.PaykandThomasLindenberger,eds., ColdWarCultures.Perspectives onEasternandWesternSocieties (NewYork:BerghahnBooks,2013),129–51;seealsothechapteronreligiousrevival duringtheearlyColdWarintheUnitedStates.StephenJ.Whitfield, TheCultureoftheColdWar (Baltimore; London:TheJohnsHopkinsUniversityPress,1991),77–100.

5 Onthereceptionofthe GospelAccordingtoMatthew:LloydBaugh, ImaginingtheDivine:JesusandChrist-FiguresinFilm (KansasCity:Sheed&Ward,1997).DavidTollertonrightlypointsoutthatthecriticalacclaimofthefilmdoesnot

©TheAuthor(s)2020.ThisisanOpenAccessarticle,distributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttributionlicence(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),whichpermitsunrestrictedre-use,distribution,andreproductioninanymedium,providedtheoriginal workisproperlycited.

Asignatureeventofthe1960swastheappearanceof ‘Christian–Marxistdialogue’.Thefewhistoricalstudiesofthismovementdepictitasanintensiveburstofencountersthattookplaceinthe mid-1960s.AccordingtoLeonardSwidler,thedialogue ‘brokeout’ around1964 ‘almostsimultaneouslyinanumberofEuropeancountries:Czechoslovakia,Italy,WestGermany,andFrance’ 6 The dialoguetranscendednationalbordersandachievedaEuropeanandindeedglobaldimension.Ata seriesofconferences,theinternationalPaulusSociety(Paulusgesellschaft)broughttogetherMarxist philosophers,scientists,churchrepresentativesandtheologiansfromtheentireChristianspectrum andfrombothsidesoftheIronCurtain.The1965Salzburgconferencemarked ‘thefirstlarge-scale internationalconversationbetweenChristianityandMarxism’ 7 Followingaconferencein Herrenchiemsee,Bavariain1966,thefirstconferenceinasocialistcountrywasheldinthe CzechoslovaktownofMariánskéLázně in1967.TheProtestant-dominatedWorldCouncilof Churches(WCC)welcomedEasternEuropeanMarxistthinkersforthefirsttimetoitsconference inGenevain1966.

Yet,soonafter1968,theChristian–Marxistdialoguebegantofounder.Thiswasinpartduetothe crushingofthePragueSpringinAugust1968,whichputachillontheexchangeeffortsacrossEurope. However,itwasalsopartofawider ‘religiouscrisisofthe1960s’ inWesternEurope,when,according tothehistorianHughMcLeod,the ‘moreself-confidentandoptimisticreformism’,ofthemid-sixties gavewayafter1967toan ‘apocalypticmood...withitsgrowingpolarisationbetweenradicalsand conservatives’ 8

ThisreligiouscrisisfoundcertainstructuralparallelsontheothersideoftheIronCurtain,albeit thereittooktheguiseofacrisisofsecularism.Stalin’sdeathin1953hadopenedthewayfornew antireligiouspoliciesintheSovietUnionandwithintheEasternbloc.WhereasStalinhadtakena pragmaticapproachtocooperatingwiththechurchesduetotheexigenciesofwartime,Nikita Khrushchevstartedacampaigninthemid-1950stopromote ‘scientificatheism’.Unlikeitspredecessorduringtheinterwarperiod,thecampaignthistimemeantnotonlyamererepressionofreligion, but,simultaneously,involvedanattempttogiveconcretecontourstoatheism,or,asVictoriaSmolkin putsit,to ‘fillSovietCommunism’ssacredspacewithpositivemeaning’ 9 Yet,bythemid-1960sthis atheistprojectalsoseemedtohavereachedanimpasse.

Thus,the1960s,particularlytheperiodbetweentheSecondVaticanCouncil(VaticanII)andthe endofthedecade,appearsasawindowintime,uniqueinEuropeanhistory,duringwhichconversationsbetweenreligionandsocialismwerenotonlypossible,butactivelypursuedonabroadscale. Historianshavesometimessoughttoexplainthiswithreferencetoeventsimmediatelypreceding thisperiod.Intheseaccountsthepreconditionsofthedialoguewere ‘de-Stalinization,relaxations necessarilycorrespondtoitscontemporaryreceptioningeneral,especiallyamongtheologystudents.DavidTollerton, BiblicalReception,4:ANewHollywoodMoses:OntheSpectacleandReceptionof Exodus:GodsandKings(London: Bloomsbury,2017),6.

6 LeonardSwidler, ‘Christian-MarxistDialogue:AnUnevenPast – ARevivingPresent – ANecessaryFuture’ , TheJournal ofPeaceandJusticeStudies,2,2(1990),29.Swidlerhasoftenreprisedthisnarrativesincethen,mostrecentlyinhis The AgeofGlobalDialogue (Eugene,OR:PickwickPublications,2016).Also,PaulMojzes, Christian-MarxistDialoguein EasternEurope (Minneapolis:AugsburgPublishingHouse,1981).PascalEitleralsoagreeswiththisperiodisation: ‘Gottisttot – Gottistrot’:MaxHorkheimerunddiePolitisierungderReligionum1968 (Frankfurta.M.:Campus Verlag,2009),344–5.Inaddition,thespecialissueof JournalofEcumenicalStudies, 15,1(1978), ‘TheVarietiesof Christian-MarxistDialogue’,offersacrosssectionoftheparticipants’ waysofhistorisingthedialogue.

7 RogerGaraudyquotedinErichKellner,ed., ChristentumundMarxismus – Heute (Wien,Frankfurt,Zürich:Europa Verlag,1966),11.

8 HughMcLeod, TheReligiousCrisisofthe1960s (Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2007);HughMcLeod, ‘TheReligious Crisisofthe1960s’ , JournalofModernEuropeanHistory/ZeitschriftfürmoderneuropäischeGeschichte/Revued’histoire européennecontemporaine, 3,2(2005),205–30,221.

9 VictoriaSmolkin, ASacredSpaceisNeverEmpty:AHistoryofSovietAtheism (Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress, 2018),5.

ofEast–Westtensions,thepontificateofJohnXXIII,andVaticanII’ 10 Indeed,theSecondVatican Council(1962–5)loomslarge.Itsencyclicals PaceminTerris (1963)and EcclesiamSuam (1964),as wellas GaudiumetSpes (1965),markedacleardeparturefromtherigidanti-communismofthe Catholicchurchandlaidthefoundationsofanewopennesstowards ‘theworld’ throughdialogue in ‘social,politicalandevenreligiousmatters’ 11 Theseencyclicalsareseenbyhistoriansascrucial fortheemergenceofCatholicradicalismbothinEuropeandmostfamouslyinLatinAmericain theguiseofliberationtheology.12 Yet,therearegoodreasonstowidenthetimeframeandspeakof whatthelateArthurMarwickcalledthe ‘long1960s’,runningroughlyfromtheSuezCrisisof 1956totheendoftheVietnamWarin1975.13 InhishistoryofreligionofWesternEuropeinthe 1960s,HughMcLeodhasmadeuseofthisperiodisationandhaspointedtotheimportanceofdevelopmentsinthelate1950stowhatwouldfollow.14 Significantsocialchangeswereunderfootthatcorrespondedtoa ‘cautiousopennesstochange’ inreligiousandpoliticalattitudes.

Itwaswithaninterestinreframinghistoricaldiscussionofreligionandsocialisminthelong1960s thatweinvitedagroupofscholarstotheUniversityofGroningenforaconferenceinJune2017.15 Thiswasthesecondconferencetoemergefromtheresearchgroup ‘ReligionandSocialisminthe TwentiethCentury’,thefirstofwhichwasdedicatedtothe ‘Interwar Kulturkampf’ . 16 Inourintroductiontothisspecialissue,wesummarisesomeofthekeyfindingsofourdiscussion.Inparticular,we drawattentiontothoseearlydynamics,oftenoverlooked,thatwerepresentinEuropeinthe1950sand thatlaidthefoundationsfornoveldialoguesofthelate1960s.Theaftereffectsoftheseremarkable eventscontinuetoreverberatetothisday.

OvercomingtheAntithesis:ChristianSocialisminthePost-WarEra

Whateventsfirstsignalthefundamentalshiftsinthepatternofhostilitythatgenerallyconstituted religious–socialistrelationsinthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury?Onestartingpointisfoundin thecallissuedbytheDutchpoliticianWillemBanningin1946fora ‘breakthrough’ (Doorbraak) inthewallbetweensocialismandChristianity.BanningwasaProtestantministerwhojoinedthe DutchSocialDemocraticPartyaroundtheoutbreakoftheFirstWorldWarandrosetobecomealeadingfigureintheparty.HewasnotthefirstEuropeanChristianSocialist,indeedtherehadexisteda Christianelementtosocialismsincetheearlynineteenthcentury.However,pre-warChristian Socialistsweredoublymarginalised.Theywereoftenlookeddownuponbyrankandfilesocialists, whoweredrawntotheradicalpotentialofanticlericalismandthenaturalscientificworldview.At

10 PaulMojzes, ‘TheCurrentStatusoftheChristian-MarxistDialogueandSuggestedGuidelinesforConductingthe Dialogue’ , JournalofEcumenicalStudies, 15,1(1978),3.Ormoredetailed: ‘thepreconditionsofitscommencement werethedeathofStalin(1953),theTwentiethCongressoftheCommunistPartyoftheSovietUnion(1956),polycentrism amongCommunistparties,emergenceofhumanisticMarxism,improvedinternationalrelationsinlightofthegradual cessationoftheColdWar,thepontificateofJohnXXIII,theSecondVaticanCouncil,Protestantreluctanceofabsolute condemnationofcommunism,andparticipationofEasternEuropeanchurchesintheWorldCouncilofChurches’.Paul Mojzes, Christian–MarxistDialogueinEasternEurope,36.MostrecentlyabouttheeffectsofVaticanIIinEasternEurope: PiotrH.Kosicki, VaticanIIBehindtheIronCurtain (WashingtonD.C.:CatholicUniversityofAmericaPress,2016).

11 Gaudiumetspes,point28. ‘Respectandloveoughttobeextendedalsotothosewhothinkoractdifferentlythanwedoin social,politicalandevenreligiousmatters.Infact,themoredeeplywecometounderstandtheirwaysofthinkingthrough suchcourtesyandlove,themoreeasilywebeabletoenterintodialoguewiththem.’

12 Gerd-RainerHorn, TheSpiritofVaticanII:WesternEuropeanProgressiveCatholicismintheLongSixties (Oxford:Oxford UniversityPress,2015).

13 ArthurMarwick, TheSixties:CulturalRevolutioninBritain,France,ItalyandtheUnitedStates,c.1958–1974 (Oxford: OxfordUniversityPress,1998).

14 McLeod, TheReligiousCrisisofthe1960s.

15 TheconferencewasgenerouslyfundedbyaRoyalDutchAcademyofScienceinternationalconferencegrantandbythe FacultyofTheologyandReligiousStudiesoftheUniversityofGroningen.Theeditorsgratefullyacknowledgethisimportantsupport.

16 Seethecontributionstothespecialissue ‘Europe’sInterwar Kulturkampf’ , JournalofContemporaryHistory,53,3(July 2018),guesteditorToddWeir.

thesametime,theyweregenerallyscornedbytheirchurchbrethren,whohadtraditionallydefended monarchy,authorityandtheChristianstate.WhatwasnewwithBanningwastheattempttoovercome thismarginalisationandtocreateasocialdemocracythatembracedreligiousandsecularfollowers alike.

AsArieMolendijkarguesinhiscontributiontothisspecialissue,the Doorbraak ideaproposedby Banningin1946aimedtoestablishanewsocialparadigminDutchsociety.Attheendofthenineteenthcentury,anotherDutchReformedminister,AbrahamKuyper,thegreatarchitectof Neo-OrthodoxyandinspirationtomodernAmericanfundamentalism,hadarguedthatDutchpolitics andsocietywerecleavedbyan ‘antithesis’ betweentheChristianandthesecularparties.Kuyperand hisfollowersusedtheantithesistoargueforseparateschoolsandotherinstitutionsforCatholicsand theNeo-Orthodox.Thusratherthanone(secular)nationalcultureenvisagedbyliberals,DutchsocietyunderwentapillarisationintoCatholic,Neo-Orthodox,liberalandsocialistmilieus.Ratherthan tryingtoChristianisethesocialistmilieu,Banningwantedtoovercometheantithesisaltogether. This,weargue,wasacrucialstepinmakinglaterencountersbetweensocialistsandChristianspossible.Banningwasbothatypicalintellectualprecursorofsocialist–Christiandialogue,aswellasan architectofthelaterparadigmshiftinEuropeansocietyandpolitics.Hispioneeringeffortsanticipated bymorethanadecadethe1959BadGodesbergProgramofthe(West)GermanSocialDemocratic Party(SozialdemokratischeParteiDeutschlands;SPD),whichisfrequentlyheldupasthepointat whichWestEuropeansocialismdepartedfromamandatoryMarxism.Oftenoverlookedinthehistory ofGermansocialismisthatthissecularisationoftheSPDwasaccompaniedbyearnestencounters withchurchleadersandaphilosophicalrejectionofapoliticsofworldview.17

Preciselyhowsocialistconversationsofthe1950swerereflectedinChristiancirclesisshownby anotherbiography,thatofErnst-WolfgangBöckenförde,whobecameoneofthemostinfluentialconstitutionalthinkersofpost-warWestGermany.Inthelate1950sthisCatholicconservativecametoa strategicembraceofsocialdemocracyoutofcommitmenttodemocracy.Historianshavearguedthat socialdemocraticpartiesinpost-warEuropedistancedthemselvesfromMarxismoutofpolitical rationalitytoenlargetheirelectoralbasisandinresponsetothepoliticalexigenciesoftheCold War.18 However,Böckenförde ’sstoryspeakstoamorefundamentalengagementbysocialistswithreligionandanticlericalismandnotmerelytacticalmanoeuvring.AsMarkRuffdemonstratesinhisarticlehereonBöckenförde,thejuristcarefullymonitoredchangingsocialistattitudestowardsideology andreligionbeforejoiningtheSPD.Takentogether,thebiographiesofBanningandBöckenförde showhowthecrucialstepstoovercometheantithesisdirectlycontributetowardsthetrendofdepillarisationofEuropeansocietiesinthe1960s.

Christian–MarxistDialogue

EncountersthathadbeenunthinkablebeforewerenowturningintoemblemsofanewkindofrelationshipbetweenMarxismandreligion.Inthemid-1960sboththeVaticanandtheWCCopenedup avenuesfordialogue.InthewakeoftheSecondVaticanCouncil,theCatholicChurchestablisheda SecretariatforNon-Believersin1965thatgaveaninstitutionalformtothenewemphasisondialogue.19 Ayearearlier,thePaulusSociety,anorganisationestablishedbytheGermanCatholicpriest ErichKellnerin1955tofosterconversationbetweenMarxistsandChristiansaboutnaturalscience, shifteditsfocusandgrewintooneofthemostsignificantforumsfortheexchangeofideasbetween ChristiansandMarxists.Itheldanumberofhigh-profileconferencesbetween1965and1967.

17 KarlDietrichBracher, ZeitderIdeologien:EineGeschichtePolitischenDenkensim20.Jahrhundert (Munich:Dt. Taschenbuch-Verl.,1985).

18 StephenPadgettandWilliamE.Paterson, AHistoryofSocialDemocracyinPostwarEurope (London:Longman,1991),13, 110.

19 JeonghunShin, KirchealsWeltforum.ZumDialogverständnisinkirchlichenDokumentenseitdemZweitenVatikanischen Konzil (Berlin:LitVerlag,2010).

Thedialoguewasconductedamidsteverincreasingmediaattention,inpartduetotheextended coverageoftheSecondVaticanCouncil,andinpartsustainedthroughitsownjournals. 20 Karl Rahner,oneofthemainparticipantsofthePaulusSocietyandakeytheologianoftheSecond VaticanCouncil,co-foundedthe InternationaleDialog-Zeitschrift in1968;inAustria, NeuesForum, aperiodicalestablishedwithfundingfromtheCongressofCulturalFreedomin1954,became, afterbreakingitstieswiththeCIAintheearly1960s,acentralforumforpublicationsonthedialogue underitseditor-in-chiefGüntherNenning.21 Otherplatformsfordiscussion,especiallysincetheearly 1970s,alsoemergedoverseas,notablytheUS-based JournalofEcumenicalStudies. Alongsidethese forums,thedialoguebecameestablishedasatopicinacademicprogrammes:whethertheMonday DialogicSeminarsofMilanMachovecattheCharlesUniversityinPragueorthecoursesofthe DarmstadtchapteroftheProtestantStudentUnionstartingin1963underthedirectionofMartin Stöhr.22

ErichKellnerformulatedthecoreaimofthedialoguein1966: ‘letmebeclearaboutthis.Forthis society,adialoguebetweenChristiantheologiansandMarxistideologuesisnotamatterofpolitics, tacticsormethod,butaquestionofscienceandhumanity.Evenmoreradically:amatteroftheselfrespectofthehumanspirit’ . 23 Thechallengesofthetechnologicalrevolutionorthethreatofmutual nuclearannihilationwerenon-partisanissuesthatbothChristiantheologyandMarxistphilosophy hadtorespondtoregardlessoftheimmediatepower-dynamicsoftheColdWar.Thepurposeof theconversation,accordingtoKellnerandRahner,wasnottoinformpoliticalactionbuttoidentify (ordevelop) ‘corepositions’ thatenabledconversationinthefirstplace.24 WhenRogerGaraudy,a memberoftheCentralCommitteeoftheFrenchCommunistPartyproposedinhis From AnathematoDialogue (1965)thattheChristianpositiononsubjectivityandtranscendencehadrelevanceforMarxism,itsentthemessagethatanewkindofconversationwaspossiblewithultimately higherstakesthanchangingpoliticalconstellations.25

WhenKellnerandhiscolleaguesframedthedialogueinsuchambitiousterms,theymadeanearnestcasefortheurgencyofdevelopingaframeworkforagenuineexchangeofideasbuttheyalsodistancedtheirdialoguefromothertypesofChristian–Marxistencounters.JanMilič Lochman,a CzechoslovakProtestanttheologian,distinguishedbetween ‘politicaltheology’ and ‘politicisedtheology’ . 26 Hearguedthattruedialoguewouldgeneratethefirstone:atheologythatreflectsonthepoliticalandsocialresponsibilitiesofchurchinmodernsociety,whilethesecondoneamountedtothe

20 ForacollectionofnewspaperreportsandothermediacoverageofthefirstconferencesofthePaulusSocietyseeErich Kellner,ed., DokumentederPaulus-Gesellschaft, 15(München:Paulus-Gesellschaft,1966).Eitler, ‘Gottisttot – Gottist rot’ , 246–51.OnthemediacoverageoftheChristian-MarxistdialogueattheWorldCouncilofChurches,Ondřej Matějka, ‘SocialEngineeringandAlienationbetweenEastandWest:CzechChristian-MarxistDialogueinthe1960s fromtheNationalLeveltotheGlobalArena’,inMichelChristian,SandrineKottandOndřejMatějka,eds., Planning inColdWarEurope (Berlin,Boston:DeGruyter,2018),165.

21 DavidMcLellan, ‘Christian–MarxistDialogue’ , NewBlackfriars, 49,577(June1968),462–7.

22 Matějka, ‘SocialEngineeringandAlienation’,178;ChristianA.Widmann, ‘VomGesprächzurAktion?Der “christlichmarxistischeDialog” unddiePolitisierungdesProtestantismusinden1960erund70erJahren’,inKlausFitschen,ed., Die PolitisierungdesProtestantismus:EntwicklungeninderBundesrepublikDeutschlandwährendder1960erund70erJahre (Göttingen:Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht,2014),128.Also,seethedescriptionofthecurriculumforacourseonthe Marxist-ChristiandialogueinRobertG.ThobabenandNicholasPiediscalzi, ‘TeachingaCourseonthe Marxist-ChristianDialogue’ , TheJournalofEcumenicalStudies, 15,1(1978),178–96.

23 ErichKellner, ‘DialogausVerantwortung’,inErichKellner,ed., ChristentumundMarxismus – Heute (Wien,Frankfurt, Zürich:EuropaVerlag,1966),18.

24 RolandBoerdescribesthisphaseofthedialogue: ‘thedesirefor “ core ” positions;relativelylittleengagementwithactual texts;atendencytoromanticisecommunisminlightofMarx’searliertexts;anditsextraordinarilyEuro-Americanfocus. Againandagain,oneencounterseffortstoidentifythecoreofbothMarxismandChristianity’.RolandBoer, Red Theology:OntheChristianCommunistTradition (Leiden:Brill,2019),119.

25 HarveyCox, ‘TheMarxist-ChristianDialogue:WhatNext?’,HerbertAptheker,ed., MarxismandChristianity.A Symposium (NewYork:HumanitiesPress,1968),21.

26 JanMilič Lochman, Marxbegegnen.WasChristenundMarxisteneintundtrennt (Gütersloh:GütersloherVerlagshaus, 1975),116.

involvementoftheologyinpolemicsorjustifyingpoliciesborneoutoftheexigenciesofthepowerand politicalconstellationsoftheday.

Reconciliationwasnottheonlymodeofdialogueinthisera.Arguably,thePaulusSocietyorganisersalsoconstructedtheirforumasanalternativetoChristian–Marxistencounterscharacteristicfor the1950s:dialogueasastrategyofchurchpoliticsincommuniststates.The topos ofdialoguewasan establishedtoolincommunistchurchpolitics,asHelénaTótharguesinhercontributiontothisspecialissue.Itfulfilledaseriesofroles.First,incombinationwithrepressivemeasuresagainstthe churches,itfunctionedasamethodof ‘divideandrule’.Dividingchurchrepresentativesinto ‘reactionaries’ and ‘progressives’ helpedcommunistregimestostartaconversationwithonegroupwhilemarginalisingtheother.Thiscouldtakeseveralforms.Someofthemwereinstitutionalised,suchasthe so-called ‘peacepriest’ movementinHungary,CzechoslovakiaandPoland,inothercasesthestrategy wasappliedmoreflexiblyontheleveloflocalpolitics.27 Thefactofaconversationbetweenchurchand state – withintheunequalpowerdynamicsofstatesocialism – presentedseveraladvantagesforthe state:itservedasevidencetotheoutsideworldofthefreedomofconscience,therebystrengthening thestate’slegitimacyabroad,whileitalsocreatedconflictswithinchurchstructures.Thisdiscursive strategywasmostoftenappliedtogetherwithphysicalviolenceandintimidation.Second,socialist statesalsodeployedthe topos ofthedialoguebetweenChristianityandMarxismasameanstobrandmarksupposedideologicalenemiesorreinforceMarxistorthodoxy.

SwitchingSides:ApologistsasAgentsofDialogue

Aremarkablefeatureofthe1960swerethemanymomentsofpersonaltransformation,whereby antagonistsswitchedsidesoratleastcametoassimilateelementsofthe(former)ideological enemy.Thiswasasurprisingtwistinthehistoryofapologetics.InthecourseofthenineteenthcenturytheEuropeanchurchesdevelopedahostofuniversitychairs,popularjournalsandlayorganisations,designedtodefendthefaithinthemodernera.Bythelatenineteenthcenturysocialism featured,alongsidesecularismmoregenerally,asthegreatestthreattothechurchesinmanyregions ofEurope,outstrippingorcomplicatingtheexistinginter-andintra-confessionalstrifegeneratedby competition.Yet,asarguedelsewhere,theconceptofapologeticscanbeusefullyappliedtounderstand socialismandsecularismaswell.28 Likethechurches,socialistorganisationsandcommuniststatesfelt thesameneedtorefutethecriticismsofthoseoutsidethecamp,tostrengthentheconvictionsofthose within,andtowinnewconverts.Theyoftendevelopedspecialisedorganisationstaskedwithcombatingchurchinfluence.

Inthe1960smanyapologeticorganisations,whetherclericalorcommunist,changedtheirfunction. Insteadofservingasbastionsofdefence,theystartedtofunctionasconduitsforconversationsand conversion.Fromitsoriginsintheearlytwentiethcentury,theProtestant-dominatedecumenical movementhadusedjointoppositiontothethreatofsecularismasagluetoholdChristianstogether. Fromitsfoundationin1948theWCCsawitselfasabulwarkagainstcommunism.Yet,bythe1960sit hadbecomeanimportantarenafordialoguewithsocialismandothersocialmovements.

SimilardevelopmentscanbeshowninCatholicorganisations,inparticularCatholicAction,a wide-rangingeffortlaunchedgloballybyPiusXIinthe1920stofightsecularismthroughanetwork oflayorganisations.GerdRainerHornhasshownthatalreadyinthe1940sCatholicActionbecamea seedbedforthedevelopmentof ‘workerpriests’ inFranceandBelgium,who,outoftheirsympathyfor theplightoftheworkingclass,begantodevelopsympathyforsocialism.Someofthesepriestswerean

27 PeterC.Kent, ‘ReligionandtheChangingWorldOrder:TheRomanCatholicChurchandtheGlobalCrisesof1956’,in CaroleFink,FrankHadlerandTomaszSchramm,eds., 1956:EuropeanandGlobalPerspectives (Leipzig:Leipziger Universitätsverlag,2006),265.

28 ToddH.WeirandHughMcLeod,eds., DefendingtheFaith:PoliticsandApologeticsintheTwentiethCentury (Oxford: OUP,forthcoming).

inspirationtotheLatinAmericanleadersofliberationtheologyofthelate1960s.Hornhasalso revealedthatmanyoftheleadersoftheNewLeftofthelate1960shadbegunthedecadeasmembers ofCatholiclayorganisations.29 InItaly,formermembersofCatholicActionofthelate1930sforgedan influentialcircleofintellectualswhoduringthewaningyearsofthewarsoughtto ‘makeMarxism cometruewithinaChristianperspective’.Afterthewartheybecameknownasthe cattocommunisti (CatholicCommunists).30 ParalleldevelopmentshavebeennotedamongleadingCatholicintellectuals,suchasJacquesMaritain,whomovedfromhostilitytosocialismtoanaccommodationwith itinthecourseoftheirshiftawayfromconservativeaffinitiesinthe1930sand1940s.31

Therelevanceofapologeticstounderstandingreligious–socialistinteractionsislesssurprising whenoneconsidersthatthedesiretodefendwasalsocombinedwiththedesiretoconvertand thatbothstimulateddeepencounterswiththe ‘faith’ oftheother.Theefforttoovercomethe enemywasakeycomponentoftheinterestthathadoriginallymotivatedpartnersfrombothsides intheChristian–Marxistdialogue.AsaMarxistphilosopherattheCharlesUniversityinPrague pointedoutattheendofthe1960s: ‘tenyearsago,webegantotalktoeachotherwiththethought atthebackofourmindsthattheothersidewouldslowlywitherawayorbreakup’ . 32 Someofthe prominentWeimar-erasocialist ‘apologists’ movedfrombeingadvocatesofanticlericalismtoadvocatesofdialogue.TwoofthesupportersoftheSPD’s1959BadGodesbergProgramwereWilli EichlerandPaulLöbe,eachofwhomhadoncehadimpeccablesecularistcredentials.Theformer hadledasplintergroupthrownoutoftheSPDin1925foritshardlineanti-religiousagitation, whilethelatterwasactiveintheBreslauFreeReligiousCongregation,whichpropagatedanimmanentist,scientificworldview.Yet,afterthewar,bothbecameprominentamongthosesocialistsseekingto reconcilesocialismandChristianity.

Therevivaloftheanti-religiouscampaignintheSovietsphereofinfluenceafterStalin ’sdeathalso setinmotiondynamicsthatultimatelyresultedinapologeticsgeneratingdialogue.Thepurposeofthe campaignwastoreturntoobjectivesmorecharacteristicofearlySovietreligiouspolicyandtooperationaliseatheismineverydaylife.Despitethedifferencesintheconstellationsofdomesticpoliticsof individualstates,thisgeneratedcomparableinitiativesacrossEasternEurope:inEastGermanyWalter Ulbrichtdeclaredthe ‘tencommandmentsofsocialistethics’ in1958,andthesameyearin CzechoslovakiafirstsecretaryoftheCommunistParty,AntonínNovotný, ‘emphasisedthenecessity offorging “moralandpoliticalunity” and...closelylinkedthiskindofunitywith “finishingtheculturalrevolution”’ 33 InHungary,too,startingintheearly1960s,partyofficialsinchargeofcultural politicsaimedtoclosewhattheyconsideredanincreasinggapbetweeneconomicdevelopmentand alaggingculturalrevolution.Incontrasttotheanti-religiouscampaignoftheinterwarperiod, whichwasbasedonanassumptionthatdestroyingtheinstitutionalbasisofreligionwoulddisrupt religiouspractice,inthelate1950ssocialiststateschangedtheirgoals,methodsandstrategies. Whiletheystillaimedtoreducereligiouspractice,therewasanincreasingawarenessandacceptance ofthefactthatthiswasgoingtobealongprocess.34 Whileintimidation,physicalandpsychological, againstclergyremainedpartoftherepertoireofchurchpolitics,socialiststatesincreasinglyinvested intothestudyofthephenomenontheywantedtodefeat.

Startinginthelate1950sexpertgroupsweresetuptostudyreligionfromavarietyofacademic perspectives:ethnological,anthropologicalorsociological.Oneunintendedconsequenceofinvesting

29 Gerd-RainerHorn, WesternEuropeanLiberationTheology.TheFirstWave(1924–1959) (Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 2008);Gerd-RainerHorn, TheSpiritofVaticanII:WesternEuropeanProgressiveCatholicismintheLongSixties (Oxford: OxfordUniversityPress,2015);contributiontothe2017Groningenconference.

30 DanielaSarasella, ‘TheMovementofCatholicCommunists,1937–45’ , JournalofContemporaryHistory,53,3(July2018), 644–1,650.

31 JamesChappel, CatholicModern:TheChallengeofTotalitarianismandtheRemakingoftheChurch(Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversityPress,2018).

32 QuotedinMcLellan, ‘Christian-MarxistDialogue’,463.

33 Matějka, ‘SocialEngineeringandAlienation’,170.

34 Smolkin, ASacredSpaceisNeverEmpty,133–41.

intosuchresearchwasthatsocialscientistsoftenturnedfromexecutorsofanideologicalprograminto keyfiguresintheChristian–Marxistdialogue.35 MilanMachovecattheDepartmentofPhilosophyat theCharlesUniversityinPraguebelongedtothisgroup,becomingaregularparticipantatinternationalChristianconferences.36 Similarexamplescanbefoundalsoinsocialistcountrieswithno comparableliberalisationtothatofCzechoslovakiainthe1960s.Withsomecaveats,OlofKlohr, chairfor ‘scientificatheism’ attheUniversityofJenainEastGermany,couldalsobeincludedin thisgroup.Klohrattendedandorganisedinternationalconferencesonthesociologyofreligionand atheismandarguedforthenecessityandpossibilityofaChristian–Marxistdialogue.37

Thesecondunintendedcorollaryoftheatheistcampaignandthebroadscientificstudyofreligion wasanewunderstandingofreligiouspractice.InhercontributiontothisspecialissueJustineQuijada showsthisshiftthroughthecasestudyoftherepresentationofshamanisminatheistjournalsinthe SovietUnion, Atheist (Bezbozhnik)and ScienceandReligion (Naukaireligiia ).Whileintheearlier stagesoftheatheistcampaignshamanismwaspresentedfroma ‘socio-cultural’ perspective,articles inthelate1960streatedalteredstatesofconsciousnessasa ‘bio-chemical’ phenomenon,worthyof furtherstudy.38 Theimplicationofthefirstapproachwasthattheshamandeliveredmerelyaperformancetodeceivehisflock,thesecondwaspotentiallysympathetictoreligiousconsciousness.Quijada arguesthataslongasreligionwasunderstoodexclusivelythroughthecategoriesofpowerrelations andclass,theSovietstatehadaclearpositionasanopponentofreligion,but ‘ifalteredstatesofconsciousnessareduetouniversalhumanbiology,thearticles[inatheistjournals]offer[ed]noclearindicationofwhattherelationshipbetweenalteredstatesofconsciousnessandtheSovietstateshouldbe’ . Thearticlesaboutshamanisminthelate1960sreflectabroadershiftinattitudetowardsunderstandingbeliefandrituals:insteadofpresentingthemasamereinventionofreligiousinstitutions,creators ofsocialistculturenowwereconvincedthattheyfulfilledafundamentalanthropologicalfunction. ThisshiftrevealsastrikingparalleltodevelopmentsinWesternEuropeandtheUnitedStates, wheresomeanthropologistsbegantoseeshamanismnotasaprimitiveformofworshipbutas onewithcounterculturallessonsfortheWest.39 Creatorsofsocialistculturecametotherealisation thatdespitetheideologicalandinstitutionaladvantagesthatthespiritualplannedeconomyofstate socialismbestoweduponscientificatheism,theyalsohadtocompeteinanincreasinglybroadfield ofspiritualpossibilities.

DecolonisationandOpeningupEcumenismtoSocialism

Secondaryliteratureontheglobalisationoftheecumenicalmovementusuallycitesthe1961New DelhiconferenceoftheWCCasthebeginningof ‘theconversionoftheWCCfrombeingamovement largelyofWestEuropeanProtestantchurchestobeingatruly world movement’ . 40 TheDelhiconferenceframedtheglobalexpansionoftheWCC,withtwenty-threenewmembers,whichincluded membersfromAfricancountries,furthermembersfromAsia,LatinAmericaand,alsoforthefirst time,fourOrthodoxChurchesfromEasternEurope,includingRussia,Bulgaria,Romaniaand

35 Furtherexamples:ZsuzsánnaMagdó, ‘RomanianSpiritualityinCeauşescu ’ s “GoldenEpoch”:SocialScientistsReconsider Atheism,ReligionandRitualCulture’,inBetts, Science,ReligionandCommunism, 90–1;PatrickHyderPatterson, ‘The Shepherd’sCalling,theEngineers’ Project,andtheScientists’ ProblemScientificKnowledgeandtheCareofSoulsin CommunistEasternEurope’,inIbid.,55–76.

36 OndřejMatějka, ‘BetweentheAcademyandPower:CzechMarxistSociologyofReligion(1954–1970)’,inUlfBrunnbauer, ClaudiaKraftandMartinSchulzeWessel,eds., SociologyandEthnographyinEast-CentralandSouth-EastEurope. ScientificSelf-DescriptioninStateSocialistCountries (Munich:Oldenbourg,2011),107–33.

37 OnOlofKlohr,seethecontributionofHelénaTóthinthisspecialissue.

38 BirgitMenzel, ‘TheOccultUndergroundofLateSovietRussia’ , Aries,13,2(1Jan.2013),269–88.

39 AndreiZnamenski, ‘TowardtheAncientFuture:ShamanismintheModernWest’,inAndreiZnamenski, TheBeautyof thePrimitive:ShamanismandtheWesternImagination (NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,2007),233–73.

40 MadathilparamilMammenThomas, MyEcumenicalJourney (Trivandrum:EcumenicalPublishingCenter,1990),252.

Poland.41 Thisexpansionpromptedthedevelopmentofanewattitudeintheecumenicalmovement towardssocialismintwo,somewhatconflicting,ways.First,itchallengedtheEuro-centrismofthe WCCandlentmoreweighttothosememberswhohadbeendevelopingtheirownideasofa Christian–socialistsynthesisinthecontextofdecolonisationfordecades;secondly,itraisedthequestionofwhetherandtowhatextentchurchrepresentativesfromsocialistcountrieswouldtrytomove theWCCtowardsadoptingamorepositiveattitudetowardssocialism.

TheOrthodoxchurcheswerenotthefirstchurchrepresentativesattheWCCfrombehindtheIron Curtain:ProtestantchurchesfromHungary,CzechoslovakiaandalsoEastGermanyhadbeenrepresentedamongthemembersthroughthe1950s,evenifwithseverelimitations.42 Theinclusionofthe RussianOrthodoxChurch,however,raisedsuspicionsofthepossibilityofSovietinfluence. 43

InhisarticleforthisspecialissueUdiGreenbergtakesthe1966GenevaconferenceoftheWCCon ‘ChurchandSociety’ asthestartingpointofhisexplorationfortheshiftsofeconomicthoughtwithin theorganisation.InmanywaystheGenevaconferencefitswellintothespiritoftheage,where ChristiansandMarxistslookedforcommonsolutionsforwhattheyconsideredthejointchallenges oftechnicalprocessandrapidsocialchange.Initsfinalstatement,theconferenceidentified ‘nationalisingthemeansofproductionintheframeworkofcentralplanning’ asthebasisforaChristianand socialistorder.Greenberg,however,makesacasefortracingtheevolutionofthisChristian–socialist synthesistothecollapseofEuropeanempiresandtheriseofAfro-Asiannationalism.Eversincethe nineteenthcenturyProtestanteliteshadbelievedChristianity’svitalitydependedonitsexpansionin AsiaandAfrica.Theunfoldingofdecolonisation,manymaintained,meantthatevangelisationcould onlysucceedifitembracedandsupportedthenationalmovementsinIndia,Vietnam,Ghanaandelsewhere.DenouncingWesternimperialismandcapitalismasintertwined,AsianandAfricanleaders –bothChristianandnot – oftenviewedsocialismasnecessaryforpost-colonialliberation.Greenberg tracesthelinkingofanti-colonialismwithleft-wingcritiquewithintheecumenicalmovementsince thelate1940sandshowsinturnhowEuropeanProtestantelitesstartedtoabandontheirprevious anti-socialisminthe1950sandevenadvocatedforradicalsocialistpolicies,suchasglobalredistributionofwealth.By1966,accordingtoGreenberg,theshiftinecumenicalthinkingaboutredistribution, almosttwentyyearsinthemaking,hadbeencompleted: ‘socialism,oncematerialism’sdisturbing manifestation,hadbecomeecumenism’sally’ . 44

TheCrisisof1967to1969

Theawarenessthatdialoguewithsocialismwasdesirablewasalsoaccompaniedbytherealisationthat theconditionsthathadmadeitpossiblemightalsobeunderminingChristianity.Thus,justasecumenicalleaderssoughttoextendthecircletoincludedialoguenotjustwithCatholics,Orthodox andJews,butalsowithsecularmovements,suchasMarxism,theyrealisedthatthismightleadto adissolutionoftheentireprojectofecumenism.In1966theheadoftheinformationserviceofthe

41 KatharinaKunterandAnnegrethSchilling, ‘DerChristfürchtetdenUmbruchnicht’,inKatharinaKunterandAnnegreth Schilling,eds., GlobalisierungderKirchen.DerÖkumenischeRatderKirchenunddieEntdeckungderDrittenWeltinden 1960erund1970erJahren (Göttingen:Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht,2014),32.

42 ThepoliticalbackgroundofEasternEuropeanmembersoftheWCCwascomplex:churchrepresentativesallowedto attendtheconferenceswereusuallybriefedbytheStateBureauofChurchAffairsoftheirrespectivecountriesand theiractivitieswerecloselymonitored.TheyalsooftenusedtheplatformoftheWCCtoendorsepro-Sovietpolicies. PeterMorée, ‘AlliesAgainsttheImperialWest.JosefK.Hromádka,theEcumenicalMovementandthe InternationalisationoftheEasternBlocsincethe1950s’,inKunterandSchilling, GlobalisierungderKirchen, 167–88; TiborFabiny,Jr. ‘TheHungarianRevolutionof1956anditsAftermathintheLutheranChurch.TheCaseofBishop Ordass’,inHertmutLehmannandJensHolgerSchjørring,eds., ImRäderwerkdes ‘realexistierendenSozialismus’ . KircheninOstmittel-undOsteuropavonStalinbisGorbatschow (Göttingen:Wallstein,2003),31–40.

43 LucianLeuştean, EasternChristianityandtheColdWar1945–1991 (London,NewYork:Routledge,2010);Gerhard Besier,ArminBoyensandGerhardLindemann, NationalerProtestantismusundökumenischeBewegung.Kirchliches HandelnimKaltenKrieg1945–1990 (Berlin,Duncker&Humblot,1999).

44 SeeUdiGreenberg’sarticleinthisspecialissue.

WCCPhilippeMaurywrotethat ‘manyyoungpeopletodayareturningawayfromtheecumenical movementitself,andnotjustfromitsinstitutionalmanifestations – theecumenicalCouncil,youth movements,Christianorganisations;theyaredemandingthatthemovementbewidenedtoageneralised,simplyhumanecumenism,thatdoesnottakeChristianityasacriterion’ 45

TheambivalenceisalsoapparentintheCatholicdominatedecumenicalorganisation,Concilium, whichin1970publishedabookwiththeremarkabletitle Post-EcumenicalChristianity. Init,the GeneralSecretariatofConciliumsuggestedthatChristian–Marxistdialoguecouldbeseenaspartof the(post-)ecumenicaldirection,evenifitwasnottechnicallyecumenical. ‘Theconfrontationbetween allreligiousconvictionsshouldleadtoasituationwherebeliefisnolongerdivisivebutunifying,and thuscanplayitspartintheunificationofmankind.Thebasisofecumenicaldialogueremainsthe historicalsolidarityofmankind,inthevitalawarenessthatthissolidarityisconstantlythreatened’ . 46 Yet,likehisProtestantcounterparts,YvesCongarwasawarethatthisstepwasalsothreatening Christianity.Thedangerof ‘secularecumenism’ wasthat ‘anadjectivecaninfactdevouritsnoun’ Inotherwords,secularismmightwinoutoverthespiritual. 47

Therapidshiftinthelate1960stoadeepcrisisofconfidenceintheecumenicalmovementwasparalleledbydevelopmentsinChristian–Marxistdialogue.Bytheendofthe1960stheriftbetweenacommitmenttoworkingonacommongroundforfirstprinciplesandtheimperativeforpoliticalandsocial actiongrewintoaninsurmountabledifference.Althoughtherewasnotonecataclysmiceventthatbroke thedialogueapart,onesymbolicmomentwasthePaulusSociety’s1968conferenceinBonn,where,for thefirsttime,representativesofthenewleftwereinvitedtoparticipate.48 Thestudentsandmembersof theextra-parliamentaryopposition(AußerparlamentarischeOpposition)refusedtofollowthePaulus Society’sestablishedpatternsofdiscussionculture.ThestudentstookovertheBonnconferenceand wantedtopassaresolutionaboutthemassacreofstudentsinMexico.Theorganisingcommittee refused,andwhentheylefttheroomtheconferencewasdeclaredafailure.Thestudents,broadlyleft totheirowndevices, ‘proceededtosingtheInternationale,buthadseriousdifficultieswiththelyrics’ . 49 AsGüntherNenning,theeditorofthe NeuesForum formulated: ‘thePaulusSocietywasblownupbythe students’ 50 Thedifferencesran,however,notonlyornotstrictlyalonggenerationallines.Students foundinspirationandalliesinprominentfiguresofthedialogue,notablyErnstBlochorProtestanttheologianHelmutGollwitzer,whosehousebecameameetingpointand ‘refuge’ forsuchemblematicfigures ofthestudentmovementasChristaOhnesorgandRudiandGretchenDutschke.51

WhilenewleftistsinGermanywereaccusingthedialogueofimpotenceandirrelevance,itsMarxist representativesinCzechoslovakia,mostofthemproponentsofthe ‘thirdway’,werebeingtargetedas potentialenemiesofthestateafterAugust1968.52 TheChristian–Marxistdialoguecountedamongthe markersofliberalisationthattheSovietUnionrefusedtotolerate.53 Intheperiodof ‘normalisation’

45 Asquotedin:YvesCongar, ‘DotheNewProblemsofourSecularWorldmakeEcumenismIrrelevant?’,inHansKung,ed., Post-EcumenicalChristianity (NewYork:HerderandHerder,1970),11–21,quotation11.

46 ConciliumGeneralSecretariat, ‘EcumenisminSearchofanIdentity’,inKung, Post-EcumenicalChristianity,145–60, quotation160.

47 Congar, ‘NewProblems’,14–5.

48 Widmann, ‘VomGesprächzurAktion?’,121–49.

49 KarlRüdigerDierth, ‘EvolutionoderRevolutionderGesellschaft?InternationalerKongreßderPaulus-Gesellschaftin Bonn’ , JungeKirche,29(1968),731–2.

50 GüntherNenning, ‘Paulus-Gesellschaftstudentischgesprengt’ , NeuesForum,15,178(1968),633.

51 ClaudiaLepp, ‘HelmutGollwitzeralsDialogpartnerdersozialenBewegungen’,inClaudiaLeppandHarryOelke,eds., Umbrüche.DerdeutscheProtestantismusunddiesozialenBewegungeninden1960erund70erJahren. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck&Rupprecht,2007),227.GretchenDutschkewritesaboutthefour ‘fathers’ ofthemovement:György Lukács,HelmutGollwitzer,HerbertMarcuseandErnstBloch.GretchenDutschke-Kotz, ‘DievierVäter:Lukács, Gollwitzer,Marcuse,Bloch’ inG.D.K.,JürgenMiermeisterandJürgenTreulieb,eds., RudiDutschke,DieRevolte. WurzelnundSpureneinesAufbruchs (Hamburg:Reinbek,1983),10.

52 Lochman, Marxbegegnen, 7.

53 OnspeculationsontherelationshipbetweentheconferencesofthePaulusSocietyandthePraguespring:WilfriedDaim, ‘FragenzumDialog’ , JungeKirche,29(1968),318–20.

followingtheinvasionMachovecandhiscolleagueswerepunishedforpromotinga ‘theologicalform oftheanti-communisttheoryofconvergence’ andwereforcedoutoftheiracademicpositions.54 The crushingofthePragueSpringalsoforcedparticipantsofthedialogueoutsideofCzechoslovakiato redefinetheparametersofChristian–Marxistencounters.The InternationalDialogueJournal (InternationaleDialog-Zeitschrift),forexample,restatedperhapsmostradicallytheircommitment tothedialogueasawhole:theeditorialintroductionofthefirstissueof1969referreddiscreetlyto the ‘EuropeaneventsofAugust1968’ andformulatedanewmissionstatement: ‘sterilepolemics willbeavoided.Instead,thejournalwillsoonpublishcontributionsbyprominentpersonalities formtheUSSR.Thedialogue,asitispracticedhere,doesnotexcludeanyoneonprincipleandit isnotfixatedonaspecificsocialmodelasifitwastheonlyoneworthyofenteringintoadialogue with’ . 55 Thissentimentwasnotsharedacrosstheboardbetweentheparticipantsofthedialogue: whiletherejectionofpolemicswasnotcontestedandneitherwasapreferenceofaspecificsocial modeldebated,theSovietinvasionofCzechoslovakianonethelessraisedfundamentalquestions aboutthelimitationsofthedialogue.

Conclusion

Inapapergivenatasymposiumin1967andpublishedayearlater,HarveyCoxclaimedthat

ThedialoguebetweenChristianthinkersandvarioustypesofMarxistsisnotasnotasnewas recentreportswouldsuggest.ItgoesbacktotheverybeginningoftheMarxisttradition,and thepresentvigorousdialogueismorearevivalthanabeginning.Howeverharditistoimagine now,futurehistoriansmightchronicletheperiodofPopePiusXIIandStalinasthehighpointin anepisodeofnegativeantagonisminwhatcouldeventuallybeanoverallhistoryofactiveand mutuallyvaluablediscussion. 56

Thearticlesinthisspecialissuebothconfirmandcontradictthisstatementbythispreeminent Americantheologianofsecularisation.Wehaveseenthatthatintellectualhistoryofreconciliationproceededfromtheinterwarandwartimeperiod.ItwasconductedbyfigureslikeWillemBanning,who camefromtheminorityofreligioussocialists,butalsobyfiguresonbothsidesoftheinterwarculture war,suchasJacquesMaritainandWilliEichler,whoinreactiontofascismandwarswitchedfrom persecutorstomediators.ItisalsotruethatthepassingoffirstStalinandthenPiusXIIwerecrucial openingsfordialogue.

However,wefindthatwhatCoxcalledthe ‘negativeantagonism ’ andwhatwehavecalledthe antithesiswasnotaninterregnuminanotherwisehealthydialoguebetweensocialismand Christianity.Instead,theantithesiswastheconstitutiveframingoftherelationship,whichfullymarginalisedreligioussocialism.ItbegannotatthestartofthepapacyofPiusXIIorevenPiusXIbut stretchedbackintothenineteenthcentury.Theweakeningofthisantithesisalsobeganearlierthan Coxproposes.Transformationsofthereligiousfieldwerealreadypalpableinsomecornersinthe early1950sandthesepreparedthegroundforthedialoguesofthe1960s.Alongsidedepillarisation inEurope,decolonisationwasaglobalprocessthatfedintothistransformation.

InCox’ sessay ‘TheMarxist-ChristianDialogue:WhatNext?’,theauthorgaveanoptimisticanswer tohisownquestion.HecouldnotbeawareofthecrisisthatwouldengulfthedialogueinAugust1968. TheSovietinvasionofCzechoslovakiaandtherisingrevolutionarymovementsinSouthAmerica posedthequestionoftheprimacyofcooperationoverconversationwithnewurgency.Participants

54 AsOndřejMatějkapointsout ‘Ironicallyenough,MilanMachovec(oneofthefoundingfathersofCzechscientificatheismintheearly1950s)earnedmostofhisincomeforthegreaterpartofthe1970sfromhispart-timejobastheorganistat SaintAntonin’schurchinPrague-Holešovice,whichheobtainedthankstohisdialogicreputationinCatholiccircles’ Matějka, ‘SocialEngineeringandAlienation’,186.

55 ‘VorwortderSchriftleitung’ , InternationaleDialog-Zeitschrift,2,1(1969),1.

56 Cox, ‘TheMarxist-ChristianDialogue:WhatNext?’,15.

inthedialogueandhistorianssincehavewonderedwhethertheturntocooperationwasaresultof changingpoliticalcircumstancesorwhetheritwasanalmostinevitableoutcomeofthedialogue itself.57 BytheendoftheColdWartheChristian–Marxistdialogueappearedtobelongtothepast. JohnPaulIImadeapartialreturntotheantithesisandpromotedavigorousanti-communismand suppressedliberationtheologywithinthechurch.MikhailGorbachev’ssuddenopeningtothe RussianOrthodoxChurchandtheirjointmillennialcelebrationofSt.Vladimirin1988mightbe takenaspartofthelastactofSovietstatesocialism,ratherthanasafreshstart.58

57 ManfredSpieker, NeomarxismusundChristentum.ZurProblematikdesDialogs (München:Schöningh,1974),227. WilliamW.Mayrl, ‘TheChristian-MarxistEncounter:FromDialoguetoDétente’ , SociologicalAnalysis, 39,1(1978), 85.ChristianWidmanndistinguishesbetweenvariousphaseswithinthedialogue:the ‘dialogue’,the ‘metadialogue’ (i.e.thediscussionaboutthedialogueitself),andplacesliberationtheologyinthecategoryofthe ‘postdialogue’ Wiemann, ‘VomGesprächzurAktion?,’ 139.

58 Widmann, ‘VonGesprächzurAktion?’,137.ManfredSpieker, NeomarxismusundChristentum.ZurProblematikdes Dialogs (München:Schöningh,1974),227.

Citethisarticle: TóthH,WeirTH(2020).ReligionandSocialismintheLong1960s:FromAntithesistoDialogueinEastern andWesternEurope. ContemporaryEuropeanHistory 29,127–138.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960777320000077