By: Dr Janez Juhant
I do not know if Lambert Ehrlich, who predicted the destructive power of the revolution on the Slovenian nation, imagined the dimensions of the consequences especially for Slovenian Christians, who are still tragically repeating Kocbek’s story. Or rather: because he was clear about how religious and other people believe communist or today left-wing promises about paradise on earth. The reasons for this are naivety, easy self-interest, living without work and effort at someone else’s expense, and more. Kocbek naively imagined that he would renew Christianity and Sloveneness by subordinating Catholics to terrorist revolutionaries. Unfortunately, it is not possible to spiritually renew a nation and the Church with a sledgehammer and a killing sickle. The elimination of the consequences of lies and mutilations in the nation’s soul and in people’s minds takes time, especially since they are constantly being renewed by the blinding manoeuvres of left-wing governments, the successors of the aforementioned semi-past. Now the ruling leftists are implementing them by violently trampling the constitution, laws and excluding everyone who does not think like them.
Kardelj and Kidrič skilfully clouded Kocbek’s conscience, and his diary entries are silent witnesses of internal struggles and self-purification that burdened his soul until he publicly admitted that a person should not be sacrificed for any “higher goals”. His stories and those of his followers to this day only confirm that Christianity and Marxism are incompatible, since Christianity cannot be introduced through violence and exclusion, but only through loyalty to the truth, law, and mutual dialogue. However, anyone who resisted the false violence against people then or today was and is being persecuted and excluded from the leftists. This also happened to fellow communist in Liberation Front Aleš Stanovnik and all other opponents of communism in or outside Liberation Front, then with murders, but today with exclusion from society, oppression through wrongful justice, media attacks or other chicanery. Tine Hribar wrote that the bullet that killed Ehrlich also killed Aleš Stanovnik.
Catholics who are discerning, faithful to God and the Church, committed to the truth, and honest and determined democrats are aware that only with the strength of spirit can they defy selfishness, prestige and arbitrary interests and thus maintain Christian personal and social standards and democratic standards. Ehrlich and his colleagues encouraged Slovenians to follow this path in difficult conditions. Before and during the war, he, bishops Rožman and Tomažič and others resolutely staked their lives for Christian values and loyalty to the truth and God’s law. This can only be done by a person of purified faith and consistently rooted in God, capable of selflessly serving people and persevering in faith in the defence of human dignity and Christian values. It is encouraging to read documents from the Vatican archives, which confirm how fearlessly and enthusiastically Rožman and his colleagues informed the Holy See about the occupation and violence of domestic terrorists against the Slovenian nation, so that the church leadership would intervene with the Italian and even German authorities in Berlin.
It hurts so much more that today the successors of the revolutionaries once again sacrifice Catholics and even their political and spiritual leaders, albeit bloodlessly, but by dying on rations. Through the obedient lackeys of the former KP secretary, they even try to influence the bishops and direct party dignitaries and other influential Slovenians to repeat Kocbek’s tragedy. Thus, they help this government to undermine the last foundations of the country’s moral and constitutional order. Cooperation with the current government would only be justified if the rulers did not systematically, treacherously, and shamelessly undermine the Christian and democratic foundations. I sadly wonder how those who invoke or even represent Christian values such as faith, family, and nation, at the initiative of the organised whisperers of the former regime, can now participate in the destruction of Christian foundations and help trample human dignity. In Finland, the voters voted off the left-wing upstarts with a large majority, but in our country politicians and even people of the Church succumb to them for I do not know some prestigious personal or alleged party-political gain. In mockery of us, the rulers systematically destroy the country with educational, administrative, socio-economic, and financial anti-democratic measures. What would the witnessing ancestors of Ehrlich, Bishop Rožman, Vovk and others who laid down their lives and uncompromisingly defended the foundations of faith and the Church, suffered, and died for it, say to this. I sadly wonder where the faith and hope of the Slovenian witnesses have gone, who consistently defied the cunning and violent terrorists in order to preserve the values of religion and nation for future generations. When will they rise from the dead to raise us to life. On the occasion of Christ’s resurrection, I only hope that leading Catholics, Catholic politicians, and party champions will be awakened, so that they will realise their duty to man, nation, and Christian democratic traditions.