Christian socialists:

...The country is homogeneous and has been spared (some would say evaded) the horrors of the last two world wars...

...In the Acts of the Apostles we read that the first Christians lived according to a basic principle of socialism, 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.' In chapter 15 we also read what is much less known or understood, that the early Christians were democratic socialists...

...By their actions they have demonstrated what others have only described in words...

...The implications of this statement are clearly antipathetic to Leninist regimes...

...As Christian socialists committed to peace and justice we make this statement as a testimony of our political conviction and our religious faith...

...The reliance on English was significant since only four Americans and a South African appeared to be native speakers of it, underlining the extent to which English has become the linguafranca of international communication...

...So the congress's final statement, arrived at by consensus, did not mention Afghanistan or Poland, although it did include support of the Albufeira Manifesto of the Socialist International, which does criticize Soviet misdeeds in Afghanistan and Poland and, in fact, the whole "Communist economic and social system...

...in fact, bashing Sweden is a regular event in American journalism, a left-handed compliment in a way, since most nations have so little claim to approximating an ideal that no one would ever think of debunking their performance...

...It was Bommersvik, a training center of the Social Democratic Youth of Sweden, thirty miles south of Stockholm in a beautiful country that socialists have governed for forty-six of the last fifty-one years, with commendable results...

...Although French polls report that twenty-five percent of practicing Catholics voted for Mitterrand, the French were not represented either, except in the person of the delightful Claude Ashe, a black African from the Congo by way of Paris...

...Peace and employment: "Weapons kill even before they are fired...

...Nevertheless, the League of Christian Social Democrats occupies half a floor in the Social Democrats' national headquarters in Stockholm, has a staff of eight fulltime employees, publishes a lively weekly, and has nine thousand members scattered throughout the country...

...The Swedes tend to be good at English, and one of the best was the chairman of the Congress, Bertil Zachrisson, postmaster general of Sweden, former minister of education and the first Christian socialist to sit in a Swedish cabinet...

...The text, however, noted that Swedish socialists had tended to favor Marx's more moderate German rival, Ferdinand Lassalle, perhaps because "reformism is closely associated with the history of Swedish social democracy...

...Now there was a coming together of religious socialists from both Catholic, Protestant, and ecumenical organizations on all the major continents...

...They represented not only Austria but nine countries of Latin America, plus an international movement from Southern Europe led by the earnest intellectual, Alfredo Luciani of Milan...

...I couldn't help noticing that there was no League of Marxist Socialists which enjoyed the privilege of occupying half a floor in the Social Democrats' building...

...That is the goal of a pluralist economy and society with a controlled distribution of power over the process of production and distribution by means of a maximum degree of democratic participation at all levels...

...JOHN C. CORT (John C. Cort, a co-editor of Religious Socialism, was a delegate to the congress from the U.S...

...For as Rosa Luxemburg protested to Lenin, 'There is no socialism without democracy.' " It is doubtful that any of these reminders were necessary for these good Swedish Christians...

...and to give material support to the national liberation movements, SWAPO in Namibia and the African National Congress in South Africa...

...The regular revelations that Sweden is not quite paradise are interesting only because of the suspicions that it might be...

...On the following subjects, however, there was no ambiguity or disagreement...

...Anyone familiar with conditions in America's great cities is tempted to find these worries laughable...

...If there was a predominant theme, motive, or spirit of the congress, it was the desire of Christian socialists to reach out to each other and to express their common faith and their mutual support and dependence...

...A pluralist economy: "We commit ourselves to democratic socialism...

...They had not been invited...

...The facts remain that the country is not only beautiful but beautifully run, that taxes are high but people get considerable value for them: over the years one of the lowest unemployment rates in the free world, one of the highest per capita incomes, excellent health insurance, pensions, and (by law) five weeks of vacation after one year of employment, trains that not only run on time but are clean, comfortable, reasonable in price, and therefore used by the public...

...Except for Austria these associations are mainly Protestant...

...And the European delegates, most of them, were also reluctant, in the interests of another kind of solidarity, to force the issue...

...In one of the socialist publications given to all the delegates, describing the history of the Swedish labor movement (probably the most and best organized of any free union movement in the world), I noticed a picture of Karl Marx...

...The delegates from the U.S...

...It is gaining strength in Italy, where the whole question of socialism and Catholicism has acquired new relevance with the emergence of a socialist prime minister, Bettino Craxi...

...had serious problems...

...Therefore, when an effort was later made to match criticism of the United States for its intervention in Latin America with criticism of the Soviet, Union for its invasion of Afghanistan and criticism of the pro-Soviet rulers of Poland for their suppression of the right of free trade unionism, there was no one who could speak with the same passion as the delegates from South Africa and Nicaragua...

...When pressed for an explanation one of the organizers replied, "The British have always been reluctant to join continental movements...

...Only disarmament can set free the resources desperately needed to prevent millions of people from starving, to create and maintain full and meaningful employment, to finance education, health, welfare, and construction projects which in turn will provide work for many people...

...Commitment to the poor: "It is our religious conviction that Jesus Christ is with those who are poor, disadvantaged, tortured, and forgotten...

...Such are the ambiguities of international cooperation among Christian socialists in the year 1983...

...The delegates included freedom fighters from South Africa, a cabinet member from Nicaragua (Minister of Education Carlos Tunnerman), the postmaster general of Sweden, a Japanese theologian from New York, an American priest living in London and speaking for Christian socialists in Chile and Peru, a Melkite Catholic headmaster from Galilee in Israel...

...I realize, of course, that not everyone agrees to the fact of Swedish success...

...For over fifty years there had been a loose federation of Christian socialist organizations, mainly from the Protestant countries of northern Europe...

...It adds," The motive is above all a dislike of violence as such, but also a belief that it is meaningless to seize power overnight, unless you have conscious and educated people to lead the new society...

...More understandably, there were no delegates from Afghanistan...

...The League has existed since 1929 and presently includes associations of religious socialists in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Holland, Sweden, Switzerland, and West Germany...

...Many Swedes I met were quick to point to their nation's shortcomings, everything from juvenile delinquency and public drunkenness to pornography...

...There were facilities for simultaneous interpretation at Bommersvik, but the only two languages interpreted were English and Spanish...

...We believe that God is present in those liberation movements that are helping oppressed people to achieve freedom and human dignity...

...The occasion was the first world congress of Christian socialists, fifty-five delegates from twenty-seven countries and five continents...

...Most probably they would not have been able to attend if they had...

...He was born outside the wealthy cities of his time and it was outside the political and economic centers of his country that he was crucified...

...Unfortunately, there were no representatives of Solidarity in Poland...

...One of them said this: " Christian socialism is as old as Christianity itself...

...ASCE News prints articles in different languages, but its English translations leave much to be desired...

...represented the Religion and Socialism Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America...

...In particular there was the eagerness of Northern and Western socialists to identify with the struggles of Africans and Latin Americans for liberation from murderous and oppressive regimes...

...In short, there is work to be done on the road to a truly international movement...

...Nicaragua: "We identify with and support the peace proposal of the Nicaraguan government, including (a) the immediate signing of a non-aggression pact between Nicaragua and Honduras, (b) the immediate cessation of all military support from any nations to those involved in the Central American conflict, (c) absolute respect for the self-determination of the nations involved, and (d) no installation of foreign military bases in Central America and the suspension of military exercises" by foreign powers...

...It describes itself as an autonomous affiliate of the Social Democratic party...

...The problem of language and communication impresses one again and again in every effort to build international cooperation...

...but even so, it is a most attractive demonstration of the claim that democratic socialism works...

...You don't bite the hand that feeds you...

...On Sunday, the last day of the congress, the delegates were guests of honor in the Lutheran cathedral of Stockholm, set among the narrow, medieval streets of the Old Town, where Bishop Carlsson, a Christian socialist himself, welcomed them with an excellent sermon on the comparative value of words and actions...

...Catholic socialists were a strong presence for the first time...

...South Africa: "We ask churches and socialist movements to work for economic sanctions against South Africa...

...Despite their concern over the ambiguous posture on Afghanistan and Poland, they announced that they would recommend permanent affiliation with the International League of Religious Socialists, the core organization behind the congress...

...Can you imagine a journalist who thought he had a hot story proving that Italy had fallen short of Christian Democratic perfection - or that the U.S...

...For reasons that are difficult to understand the Christian Socialist Movement of England, a lively and influential organization, did not show up...

...What is it about Sweden that has made it such a successful model of the "middle way" between capitalism and Communism...

...Afterwards, at a reception in a church hall high above the "Venice of the North," a gathering of Swedish Christians listened to four of the delegates...

...Central America: "We support the initiatives of the Contadora Group [Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, and Colombia] for achieving peace in the region through discussion and dialogue...

...This was never said, but it is the most plausible explanation of the intense reluctance with which these delegates from movements enjoying Soviet support reacted to the effort to criticize injustice and oppression wherever they might occur...

...Luciani publishes an interesting magazine, ASCE News, the ASCE standing for Azione Socialista Cristiana Europea, or European Christian Socialist Action...