Red Abbot...

 From the Internet...

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 Hewlett Johnson was a very unusual personality for Western capitalist society.  A doctor of theology and dean of Canterbury Cathedral, he supported communist ideas, welcomed the Great October Socialist Revolution and was a friend of the Soviet Union.

 During the Second World War, Hewlett Johnson advocated the early opening of a second front in Europe and was one of the initiators of collecting aid for the USSR.  In 1934, the “Red Abbot” (this nickname was given to him in his homeland for his political views) visited the Soviet Union for the first time.  Johnson visited our country several times, and in 1945 he was officially invited to Moscow to celebrate Victory Day.  The monk was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the International Stalin Prize "For Strengthening Peace Between Nations."

 After visiting socialist states, he came to the conclusion that the economic structure and way of life of the citizens of these countries is much closer to the ideals that Christian churches have proclaimed for centuries.  “If Jesus Christ lived in our time, he would be a communist,” the “Red Abbot” once said.

 In the coordinate system of Marxism, Hewlett Johnson, like all believers, is, of course, an idealist, but he was certainly a progressive public figure and an example of a conscientious person who strives for truth and justice.

 “Our Christian faith,” he said, “commands us as Christians to love each other, to care for the good of our neighbor as if it were our own, to be guided in our thoughts and actions by benevolence and generosity, and to make serving other people the main goal of our lives.
 But here we are plunged into commercial and industrial activities with their struggle.  How can the ideal of service to others be put into practice in this alien economic system, based on competition between individuals, between corporations, between groups and countries fighting for profit?

 As for me, my conscience is never and never has been calm in this society.  Every income I receive bears this stain, directly or indirectly.  I can't get rid of my responsibility by giving away my money to charity.  I am still responsible for a society in which the dominant principle is the pursuit of profit and private property."

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 Author.

 I bow my head...