Two of Pope Francis' close associates accused White House strategist Steve Bannon of being a "supporter of an apocalyptic geopolitics," The New York Times reports.
The authors, Antonio Spadaro and Marcelo Figueroa, wrote in La Civiltà Cattolica in July that Bannon has prevented action on climate change and preyed on fears of immigrants and Muslims with talk of "walls and purifying deportations."
They trace the root of this ideology to Pastor Rousas John Rushdoony, calling him "the father of so-called 'Christian reconstructionism' (or 'dominionist theology') that had a great influence on the theopolitical vision of Christian fundamentalism.
"This is the doctrine that feeds political organizations and networks such as the Council for National Policy and the thoughts of their exponents such as Steve Bannon, currently chief strategist at the White House and supporter of an apocalyptic geopolitics."
The authors added "Rushdoony's doctrine maintains a theocratic necessity: submit the state to the Bible with a logic that is no different from the one that inspires Islamic fundamentalism.
"At heart, the narrative of terror shapes the world-views of jihadists and the new crusaders and is imbibed from wells that are not too far apart. We must not forget that the theopolitics spread by Isis is based on the same cult of an apocalypse that needs to be brought about as soon as possible."
Massimo Faggioli, a historical theology professor at Villanova University, told The Times that this article will "be remembered in church history as one of the most important to understand the Vatican of Francis and the United States and American Catholicism."
He added that American Catholicism "has become different than mainstream European Catholicism and mainstream Latin American Catholicism," falling "into the hands of the religious right."
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