Peppone at the Vatican

The June 9 issue of Le Figaro informs us that Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the founder of the Left Party in France—to the left of the Left—would like to stay at the Casa Santa Marta where Pope Francis resides, because he has “some things to tell him”. Almost as though the Communist mayor of Brescello wanted to stay at Don Camillo’s rectory....

And what would “Peppone” Mélenchon tell the Pope? What he already wrote in mid-April, when the latter returned from Lesbos with twelve Muslim migrants: “Long live the Pope! ... I felt so close to the idea that the Pope then exemplified in bringing home twelve refugees. Human fraternity is a practical value and a political virtue. Definitely, the Church has really elected a Christian this time! ... The Pope corners everyone spectacularly, directly and magnificently.”

For his part, [the fictional Italian village pastor] Don Camillo told his flock in 1953—before the Council—the story of the wolf outside the sheepfold:

The wolf lay down in front of the door to the enclosure with a very gentle demeanor; he remained there and spent his time singing happy little songs. From time to time he stood up and went to graze on the grass that grew at the foot of the wire fence.

“Oh, look, look!” the astonished sheep cried. “He is eating grass too, just like we do. They never told us that wolves eat grass.”

“I am not a wolf,” the wolf replied. “I am a sheep like you. A sheep of another race.” Then he explained that the sheep of all races ought to unite and make common cause. Finally he said, “Why don’t we found a Democratic Front for Sheep?...”

“He is a good speaker!” some of the sheep remarked. “We should make common cause!”

And they joined the Democratic Front for Sheep; and one fine day, they opened the door to the wolf, who made his way into the enclosure....”

(Giovannino Guareschi, Don Camillo and his flock)

Instead of receiving at the Vatican the agnostic Bernie Sander, the champions of the populist Left Evo Morales and Rafael Correa or even the neo-Malthusian Jeffrey Sachs, as was the case on April 15 and 16, 2016, the Pope would do well to welcome Don Camillo to the Casa Santa Marta.

Father Alain Lorans