German Red Prince

Page 156

"Patagonia's basic industries also need to be established. We hope to have more factories, and we also hope to receive professional guidance in the training of the military."

Patagonia is actually very rich in resources. Its unique geological structure and complex geological conditions have created a favorable resource environment and abundant mineral deposits.

Patagonia has large and widely distributed oil reserves, with abundant oil and natural gas resources near the continental shelf along its coast.

In later generations, the Patagonia region, centered on Rivadavia, became Argentina's largest oil base, accounting for more than 60% of the country's total oil production.

Rio Turbio, at the southern tip of Patagonia, is Argentina's largest coal mining region, supplying almost all of the country's industrial coal needs.

In addition, Tierra del Fuego, San Juan and the High Alps region of Patagonia are rich in peat, and the central region has rich uranium deposits. Three uranium mines have been discovered and developed, including the Los Aldobes uranium mine in Chubut Province.

The Chubut Province also has abundant bauxite deposits, while the Cierra Grande in the Rio Negro Province has a large iron ore mine. The Patagonia region also has minerals such as molybdenum, copper, zinc, lead, lime, refractory clay, and kaolin.

These resources were once monopolized by Argentina. After a series of arduous resistance wars, the Argentinians withdrew from the area. However, the impoverished Patagonian government was simply unable to mine and process these resources, and large-scale mechanical production was out of the question.

Selling these unprocessed resources yields very little profit, but they lack the capacity to process them themselves, so they watch helplessly as they sell them only to buy them back at several times the price. Now that they have the funds, they will no longer face this predicament once industry develops.

Europe is now the center of the world, and the intensity of war there is naturally incomparable to other places. That's why Joseph proposed that they send people over for professional military training and weapons production. Even weapons left over from World War I are in high demand here. Patagonia is still using weapons from all over the world.

Joseph had also heard that the Kingdom of Rhine was training a large number of new military units. He figured that training them only in the country wouldn't be very meaningful, so he wondered if these new military units could be brought to Patagonia.

Training here allows them to avoid being watched by Europeans, conduct specialized exercises, and also lets their troops learn from European training methods—it's a win-win situation.

“Comrade Joseph, I will report all your ideas to Comrade Thorne. I think Comrade Thorne will help you solve these problems,” the German Communist Party comrade said to Joseph.

"Then thank you, Comrade Thorne. Without your assistance, Patagonia would not have developed so rapidly. I think we will soon be able to launch a people's war in South America to liberate the people who are oppressed by farmers and factory owners."

"I wish you success soon. It's getting late, so we need to resupply and prepare to leave."

"Patagonia welcomes you at any time. Also, please thank Comrade Thorne for me. The books he sent me were very inspiring and played a great role in the development of Patagonia."

After a period of investigation, Joseph also discovered why Patagonia was so poor: the grassroots were almost monopolized by the church. There was a middleman between the government and the grassroots, and the church would extract benefits from both sides. It was impossible to violently eliminate these churches.

These churches are adept at spreading rumors and inciting uninformed people at the grassroots level, which can lead to chaos. If they can't win, they can join others. Ultimately, people will judge who truly benefits them.

The workers' church absorbed many old priests and outstanding political workers from the party, wielding Marxism-Leninism and the Bible in one hand. Although it seemed magical, the effect was truly remarkable, and the influence of the workers' church far surpassed that of traditional churches.

Everything is moving in a positive direction in Patagonia, and Joseph has been waiting for such an opportunity. Although the Russian revolution failed, he can try again in South America.

319. Jesus was a good comrade.

Father Rilvado has recently encountered a strange thing: the usually bustling chapel is deserted this Sunday.

He started cleaning the small church early in the morning. As the only small church in the area, Rilvado and two clergymen handled the religious affairs here.

People always need a faith, especially in this impoverished place. Father Rilvado would often walk around, and many people would donate money to his small chapel. He would then use these donations to buy things in town and give them to those in need.

As a devout Catholic, Father Rilvado lived a very simple life. He didn't even have his own house and slept in a small room behind the church every day.

Material things held little allure for Father Rilvado, who was nearly seventy years old and believed that his suffering was a test from God, and that he would eventually be redeemed.

However, something seems off today. Normally, all the believers should have arrived by this time. Although there aren't many, there are still dozens of them. Even if something happened, surely not all of them would be here?

Rilvado sensed something was wrong. He told the other two to watch the church while he went out to check on things.

The town wasn't very big, with only a few hundred people living there. If they weren't coming to church, it must be something important. But if it was important, they should have notified us in advance. They didn't even say hello, and we couldn't see anyone on the road. This made Father Rilvado even more curious.

As he walked, Father Rilvador noticed something different: when did a church appear here? On the other side of the town, Father Rilvador saw another newly built church.

He has been here for many years and has a very good relationship with the town's residents. It's definitely not something these villagers built to avoid him, but their country wouldn't build a church, would it?

Patagonia is a socialist country. It's already very kind of them not to demolish their churches. How could they possibly build another church? Besides, in such a remote and impoverished area with only a few hundred people, there's no need to build another church, is there?

The little church was quite nicely renovated, and Father Rilvado was somewhat envious. Although it wasn't large, it looked much better than his church from the outside. At least the paint was new, while his church was drafty and the paint on the exterior walls had almost all peeled off from the wind.

This little chapel is beautiful, but why does the exterior decoration look a bit strange?

The church is painted red, and a traditional image of Jesus hangs on it, but why are there also hammer and sickle? What does that mean?

Filled with curiosity, Father Rilvado wanted to go inside and take a look.

The townspeople were all here, sitting on benches. The person standing behind the platform in front must be the priest of this church, but his clothes were different from his own, which seemed a bit strange. This made Rilvado suspicious. Could these people be a cult?

It would be terrible if they distorted the teachings of the Bible to deceive and trick the townspeople.

“In the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament, the Israelites fled Egypt under the guidance of the Lord. The Israelite prophet Moses led the people through the wilderness, and on Mount Sinai, the Lord gave them commandments, ordinances, and laws. From that time onward, the Lord has given them peace,” said the “priest” standing on the platform.

Rilvado listened from below. What he said seemed to make no problem, but it still made him somewhat uneasy.

"From this we can see that God has always stood on the side of the oppressed throughout history, liberating them. He helps the poor, listens to their devout beliefs, and ultimately gives them freedom!"

“就如《耶利米书》22章中所指出的，认识上帝就是实行公义,谴责不义，《《新约》·路加福音》1章46～55节的“尊主颂”和4章16～30节耶稣在拿撒勒会堂的讲道里也说明了，福音的信息是“叫那受压制的得自由”。”

"The parable of the Last Judgment in the Gospel of Matthew is about knowing Christ among those who are suffering!"

The man on the other end became more and more excited as he spoke. He was an excellent political worker in Patagonia, and he had only learned about religion in the last few days. There were still many mistakes, but that did not prevent him from speaking freely on the other end.

"Friends, if Jesus were still alive today and reached South America, after seeing the current situation there, he would definitely join us without hesitation and become a guerrilla fighter!"

Hearing this, Rilvado really couldn't hold back anymore. What kind of nonsense was this? It was somewhat plausible at first, but now it was clearly starting to ramble.

"Jesus died because of rebellion, because of his rebellion against Roman rule. He was the Jesus of the people, and he always stood by the people's side!"

"More than a hundred years ago, after we broke free from the control of Spain and Portugal, but even after we were freed from the control of the colonizers, our people did not truly gain freedom!"

This guy started to use his excellent political work skills and began to promote his "doctrine" to the public, a doctrine different from traditional Catholicism.

"Our people have long been under military dictatorship. The colonists are gone, but farmers and dictators have appeared on our land! Our people are being oppressed a new time, oppressed by those bloodsuckers!"

"If Jesus were to return to South America and see what's happening now, he would absolutely not compromise with those bloodsuckers. He would stand with us! Fight! Get rid of all slavery and strive for complete liberation!"

"Jesus will be a good comrade! The essence of his teachings is liberation! The liberation of the poor, the liberation of the oppressed! It is the true theology of liberation, not the kind distorted by the Vatican."

"Think about it, did Jesus really want to be worshipped? Was his original intention to eventually become a harmless idol?"

"Jesus teaches us to fight! Let us create a gospel society with our own hands! The foundation of our liberation is liberation from sin, liberation from the original sin of the bourgeoisie! Jesus is a liberator! We must not only reflect on the world, but also transform it!"

"Christ's salvation is manifested in the liberation of human history. To know Christ is to follow Christ in action. The theology of liberation is not centered on the church or on those distorted and misinterpreted theories, but on the sacraments of salvation and the signs of liberation!"

"The church should be the people's church, not a sanctuary for those who are sinful. It should preach the gospel to the poor and the oppressed and go out to the people!"

"This kind of theology is not compassionate; it insists on engaging with people and working to change and renew the world. Liberation theology is open, constantly protesting against the trampling of human dignity, fighting against the forces that exploit the masses, insisting on liberating people with love, establishing a new, just, and loving society, and bringing forth the Kingdom of God!"

As expected of an outstanding political worker of the Party, his words stirred up the emotions of the believers below, who cheered along with him. Rilvado couldn't help but feel nervous as he watched these people descend into madness.

"Crazy! Crazy!"

He was 100% certain that this was a cult, so bewitching and inciting its followers. What did they want to do?

Father Rivaldo didn't care about anything else. He squeezed through the crazed parishioners and ran back to the church, locking the doors behind him.

"They've gone mad! They've all gone mad! They're all possessed by demons!"

The clergy inside the church were puzzled by Father Rivaldo's erratic behavior. What was wrong? What had frightened him during his trip outside?

"Devil! Devil!"

Before Rivaldo could finish speaking, there was a commotion outside the church. Someone was knocking on the door, and when the old priest peeked through the crack, his heart nearly stopped beating.

Why have those devils come looking for us?

320. Father, I'm here to negotiate. (New book released)

Zapara was an outstanding political worker in the Patagonian Workers' Party.

During the resistance against the Argentine invasion, he displayed extraordinary abilities, leading a team of fifty men to repel an attack by four hundred Argentine soldiers, and was even personally commended by Comrade Soto.

Not long ago, the Patagonian government convened a meeting concerning the Patagonian Catholic Church, demanding that reasonable religious propaganda be conducted while adhering to socialist principles, ensuring that religion does not violate socialist principles, and that its doctrines be improved to a certain extent.

Many political workers like Saparla at the meeting seemed somewhat incredulous after hearing the content of the meeting.

Who are these people? They are political workers who believe in socialism. What is that? That's a religion. One reads Marxism-Leninism, and the other reads the Bible. How can they be the same? They are completely unrelated. So why are they now trying to merge them?

Many people at the meeting raised questions: they were studying Marxism-Leninism, so how could they mix it with religion? It was absurd and incongruous.

It's understandable that everyone has questions. Comrades Soto and Joseph had already guessed this before the meeting. Some comrades might not understand it, but in Latin America today, it is a very promising method to transform religion and make it serve socialism.

Joseph learned a lesson during his long revolutionary career: to make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible. Only by winning over the broad masses of people can the final victory of the revolution be achieved.

In the eyes of most people, religious figures are natural conservatives, and believers are natural allies of conservative forces. This group usually has little interest in change, and most of them are content with the status quo. Revolutionaries generally find it difficult to unite believers, and few revolutionary groups have ever considered uniting these people.

However, the book Thorne gave to Joseph greatly inspired Joseph and opened his mind. He realized that these believers were also people who could be united and that they could become the backbone of the revolution.

Latin America is a special land, and its religions are also special. Their workers' parties can transform Latin American Catholicism into a fighting Catholicism!

With the explanations of Joseph and Fawthorne, Saparilla probably understood that they wanted to reform religion, to give those outdated religions vitality and power, to give them new meaning, and to make religion truly serve the people and the liberation of all mankind.

Theology should be a theology of liberation. Isn't the purpose of faith from its inception to give people hope? Simple prayer will not bring any results. I have never heard of anyone who can eat just by lying down. If you want hope and a better life, you have to struggle, practice, and use the principles of Marxism to transform religion.

At Comrade Soto's call, many political workers in Patagonia began to study. Joseph printed the book that Sohn had given him into pamphlets and distributed them to these people so that they could study it, reform Catholicism, and transform Patagonian Catholicism into a fighting Catholicism that could serve socialism.

After a period of study, Zapara successfully "graduated" and became a so-called worker priest, a fighting priest. The Patagonian government also built many workers' churches to help them spread this reformed religion.

Of course, these alone are not enough to compete with traditional Catholicism. They have been working on the theory for a long time, while we are just starting out and can't compete with them. So the Patagonian Workers' Church is not just about promoting religion; they also help with other things and provide welfare.

The Workers' Church helps impoverished believers. The people there are all legitimate workers with strength. If someone's house is leaky or needs renovations, they can go up and help.

Moreover, churches provide free meals, and ordinary churches also provide free food, but the workers' church is built with state funding.

Each church also has party representatives, and ordinary churches can't compete with them. Those churches that are rolling in money are unlikely to spend a lot of money to distribute free food, after all, they are in it for the money, and faith is not worth much.

In the long run, believers will unite around the Workers' Party, become their supporters, and also become a potential revolutionary force. Who says believers can't unite? That's because the wrong method has been found.

The current working-class churches in Patagonia are mainly following the strategy of "encircling the cities from the countryside." They are hesitant to directly target the larger churches, as these churches have been established and have a large following for a long time, and taking action rashly would certainly lead to unforeseen consequences.

Compared to the large churches in cities, the traditional churches in rural areas are generally more devout, but they also lack significant influence. The government has specific methods for dealing with them, and naturally, they cannot be completely abolished. Before the emergence of workers' churches, these churches played a positive role in maintaining regional stability and made certain contributions.

Therefore, the main approach for them is to win them over. Currently, in the theology of liberation, there is only talk of liberation, and it is mostly party members who are involved. There is too little theology. This is a good thing for the revolution, but ordinary people still don't care. Religion has been passed down for thousands of years, and in the minds of believers, it is definitely more convincing than their socialist ideology.

They've been talking about liberation too much, which could eventually provoke discontent among believers. Besides, their ultimate goal is to liberate the whole of Latin America. Doing so might not be a problem in Patagonia, but doing so in countries with strong religious cultures could lead to serious issues, such as riots, which would be a real problem.

There needs to be a balance between liberation and theology. We need to promote the idea of ​​liberation while ensuring that believers don't think it's too radical and to keep the more conservative believers in line. Therefore, we also need some professional priests to work with these believers and get them to join the ranks.

Sapala came here to do ideological work; he had learned about Father Rivaldo before he came.

The priest was well-regarded locally; he was a devout believer, not a money-grubbing businessman disguised as a religious figure. The goal was to persuade him to join the revolutionary cause.

"Father Rivaldo, are you inside?"

Sapara patted the person, but didn't get a response for a long time. It was strange, he had just seen someone go in.

“Father Rivaldo, are you there? We’re here to discuss some terms. I have something I’d like to talk to you about.”

Sapala continued.

"Get away from me! I won't make a deal with the devil!"

Father Rilvado shouted from inside the room, leaving the group stunned. When did they become devils?

321. The Significance of Religion

"You devils, get out of here! The Lord does not welcome you!"

Before Sapara outside could figure out what was going on, the priest inside the church had already begun using "magical attacks," chanting scriptures to "expel" the demons.

Hearing Father Rilvado's reaction inside the church, Zapara looked at the villagers who had led them there.

"Is Father Rilvado like this all the time?"

He simply couldn't believe that such a crazy priest could have so many villagers supporting him. Sapara began to doubt whether he even needed to come and do anything for this priest, in case he turned out to be a madman.

“Well… Father Rilvado isn’t usually like this.”

The villager who had led them there was also very puzzled. He scratched his head, unsure of what to say. What was going on? The priest was never like this before; he was usually quite kind. Could he be having an episode?

"Father Rilvador, it's me, open the door!"

The villagers called out from the doorway, but Father Rivaldo ignored them and continued chanting his scriptures inside the house.

"Father, what's going on?"

The clergy inside the church seemed very puzzled when they saw the priest return, behaving strangely. What had happened? They had never seen the priest so out of sorts before. What terrible thing had he seen?

"Our town has been invaded by demons!"

Father Rivaldo's words immediately left the clergy puzzled. What was the purpose of his trip?

"There are demons in our town! They've corrupted the villagers and distorted our teachings. They want to destroy us! Help me fight them!"

“Father, we would like to speak with you, Father!”

"Don't open the door! The people outside are the devil in disguise; they want to destroy us!"