The founder of Italian Communism had deathbed conversion

[Dan]

According to the Vatican Antonio Gramsci reverted to the Catholic faith. Is this possible?

The Vatican has revealed that Antonio Gramsci, the founder of Italian Communism and an icon of the Left, reverted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed.

Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, former head of the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See, which deals with confessions, indulgences and the forgiveness of sins, said Gramsci had "died taking the Sacraments". He had asked the nuns attending him in hospital to let him kiss an image of the infant Jesus, Monsignor De Magistris said.

He said rumours that Gramsci had reverted had never until now been confirmed, and the Italian Left had also remained silent on the issue. "But that is how it was" he told Vatican Radio. "Gramsci returned to the faith of his infancy".

Gramsci, who came from Sardinia, won a scholarship in 1911 to study at the University of Turin, a city dominated by the Fiat factories and where trade unions were emerging. He became a Marxist journalist, supporting workers' councils which sprang up in Turin during the strikes of 1919 and 1920.

He played a leading role in founding the Communist Party of Italy or PCI in 1921, became its leader, and after visiting Moscow sought to form a united front of leftist parties against Fascism. He was arrested by the Fascist police in 1926 and put in prison, where his already poor health deteriorated. He died in Rome at the age of 46, shortly after being released, and is buried in the Protestant Cemetery.

He is regarded as one of the most important Marxist thinkers of the 20th century. His thought is crystallised in The Prison Notebooks, in which, among other things, he argued that Capitalism was based on a combination of force and consensus, and that Marxism could only supercede religion if it met peoples spiritual as well as material needs.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5232492.ece

[mord]

Well at least his not a communist now

[Ambiorix]

Well at least his not a communist now

[Rubystars]

Christianity in most forms does believe in redemption of evil people who want to be good and change their ways, but it takes sincere repentance and a dedication to change the bad behavior. Deathbed conversions could be valid in some instances, IMO but for someone who lived such an evil life, I really have to question how sincere he can be if he waited until he was dying and facing the fire to feel remorse for his actions. Would he have tried to do the same thing if he was projected to live another 50 years and use those years to fight communism or do other good in the world?

[Dan]

Conclusion:
              The only Good Communist is a Dead Communist!

[Masha]

Sadly, his ideas of cultural hegemony have won the day. According to his teaching, we now have socialism and communism firmly entrenched as our official ideology. Would somebody who has caused such tremendous damage be forgiven by G-d? It's hard to believe, but, at the same time, what do we know? G-d has his reasons both to punish and to forgive.