Post Shared by X Vera Dodd, a former Communist and convert to Catholicism, claims to have said that 1,100 Communists have become Catholic priests.
Infiltration is real pic.twitter.com/v8duK9gZAW
— Dr. Taylor Marshall™️ (@TaylorRMarshall) January 15, 2025
Verdict: Unsubstantiated
Dodd said she never met the communist priest in the 1961 video. This claim is based on the words of others.
Fact check:
Social media users claim that Dodd, a former communist, said he “inducted 1,100 people into the priesthood in the 1930s to destroy the church from within.”
However, this claim appears to be contradicted by Dodd's statement in 1961 that he had never met a Communist who became a priest. Homiletic and pastoral review. The 1961 talk was discovered by Dr. Mary Nicholas and the audio was uploaded to: YouTubealthough the video is not available. The audio was also uploaded to X by the priest.
“I have never met a Communist who is a member of the Catholic clergy…My feeling is that the years of preparation required of the Catholic clergy deter them from sending people along the Communist Party line. -Bella Dodd (Detroit, September 1, 1961) https://t.co/KCldLa1LSn pic.twitter.com/eCCmrQPuo2
—Father Paul (@BackwardsFeet) January 15, 2025
She said: Homiletic and pastoral review:
“I've never met a Catholic priest, uh, communist, uh. Now I'm not saying that because I'm a Catholic, because I It was I know some of the young Protestant pastors, uh, Protestant clergy. May God bless some of them. They really wanted to do good. The Communist Party was raising money to send them to a seminary, which would probably last a year or two. And, uh, then they'll come back and preach the doctrine of society. ]Now, I had never met any, uh, Catholic clergy. That doesn't mean it might not [Communist]! My feeling is, well, a long time ago. [slight pause] The preparations necessary for Catholic clergy are deterWell, it's Communist Party policy when it comes to letting people in. ”
This claim is attributed to Alice von Hildebrand, a friend of Dodd's, but Dodd told Nicholas and author Paul Kengor, “When I was organizing the Communist Party in the 1930s, I had 1,000 “I helped place more communists than anyone else,” he said. at a Catholic seminary.” crisis magazine.
In Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Kevin Simmons writes, “Newly recovered remarks from Vera Dodd's 1961 Detroit lecture credit her with infiltrating Catholic seminaries.'' It is a challenge for Catholics.”
“This challenge forces them not only to consider the underlying assumptions, but also to take a very critical view of the sources. These sources are primarily based on her own Catholic life. and the good reputation of Alice von Hildebrand, a giant in thought. But the truth goes beyond one's reputation,” Simmons said. He added: “The current facts show that the claims of Dr. Alice von Hildebrand and her friends Jonine and Paul Leininger are not necessarily correct.” contradictory From a lecture given by Dodd in Detroit in 1961. But we need to rethink how we think about this issue. ”
