Mexico is not turning communist, it’s following the gospel, according to President López Obrador.

Mexican Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez declared this week that the president is leading Mexico into communism, to which the president responded by asking the religious leader to recall the words of Pope Francis: “Defending the poor is not being a communist. It is the center of the gospel.”

According to an essay written by the 87-year-old Sandoval and published on the archdiocese of Guadalajara’s website, the “atheist” Mexican government has begun to take its people down a slippery slope to communism.

The essay, called The Communism that is Coming to Mexico, identified several indications to back up its argument — taking control of the nation’s assets and the economy, assuming a dictatorial role, and promoting gender ideology over the family, among others — as examples of the country’s descent.

In response, López Obrador argued that accusations such as those by the cardinal are due to the changes that his administration has made and is making in favor of a more just society.

“I understand that some have their interests affected, but we could not continue as we were, the government could not continue to be kidnapped in the service of a minority and turn its back on the people,” he said in response. “You cannot put new wine in old bottles.”

Cardinal Sandoval, who once described abortion as a crime committed with the same barbarity as a narco execution, presided over a 2015 exorcism intended to banish violence from Mexico.

Source: ADN Político (sp), Excélsior (sp)