Posted on 09/20/2015 4:23:27 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Pope Francis has arrived in Havana this afternoon and starts a historic 10-day visit to Cuba and the United States, according to reports.
Cuban President Raul Castro welcomed Pope Francis in a long speech at the airport. In his speech, Castro said the communist government has "founded an equitable society with social justice" in Cuba and he praised the pope's critiques of the global economic system that has "globalized capital and turned money into its idol."
Castro thanked Francis for facilitating negotiations that led to a detente between the United States and Cuba. Castro is also calling for the end of U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, which he called "cruel, immoral and illegal," and the return of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
Castro praised his country's socialist model for building a society "focused on human beings and the family" and said he's "firmly determined to ... build a just and virtuous society with high ethical and spiritual values."
"As honorable priest Félix Varela indicated, 'We want the future generations to inherit from us the dignity of man, and to remember what it takes to recover it so that they fear losing it,'" said Castro, according to a translation of his remarks.
Cubans, who live in a country frequently cited for human rights abuses, "exercise religious freedom as a right consecrated in our Constitution," Castro claimed.
The holy leader of the Catholic Church will be in Cuba until Sept. 22 when he departs for Washington. While in Cuba, the Pope could have some politics on his plate, the Associated Press reported.
Vatican officials told the Associated Press that the plight of dissidents might come up in private meetings between Francis and the country's leader Raul Castro.
The pope has been opposed to the long-standing U.S. trade and travel embargo.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Castro is sure delusional. Cuba is far from spiritual.
I’m embarrassed and ashamed.
Paging Archbishop Gilday
1. You got that right. He was as "communist" as all the other true-blue commies who believed in the "ism" as long as they got what they wanted.
2. Signs of spiritualism probably got punished. It would be interesting to see how many "closet" Christians kept the candles burning, so to speak. I read that many Russian/Soviet and other USSR countries still had people praying and otherwise adoring God.
Hard to believe in no God whatsoever, unless one is either delusional or believes in his/her own "god"dom.
One man does not a religion make but this one man is trying very hard to UNMAKE mine.
Two socialist dictators praising each other.
I don’t recall Jesus’ parables condemning receiving payment for work.
I’m sad and praying a LOT.
It does appear the Pope has gone around the bend- socialism, communism, and global warming oh my!
Birds of a feather....
THE LAST POPE
Poor Castro. He seems unaware that the Pope is not authoritative in matters of politics, science, OR economics. Catholics may disagree with him on those. He has authority on matters of faith and morals and his statements have been traditionally firm there. Regarding faith and morals, the Pope has been absolutely in line with the ancient doctrine of the Church.
I am in the same situation and I don’t like it.
That said, the socioeconomic system that best rewards peoples efforts, best supports self-determinism, and that has done more to help the world than all the other socioeconomic systems combined (IMHO), is capitalism. If the Church wants to distance itself from capitalism, I would suggest they stop asking for donations during mass.
their are = there are (sorry).
Indeed.
New Living Translation
Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.
Luke 10:7
New International Version
For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”
1 Timothy 5:18
And, of course, there is the Parable of the Talents.
OK, I am just a bass-player, not a Jesuit or a Pope, but those verses just floated out my fingers.
“turned money into its idol”
Money has been an idol long before it went global.
Socialism is built on envy, greed, and theft. These go hand in hand with persecution of believers, abortion and other forms of murder, and all the trappings of a tyrannical state. Castro is living proof.
Nuances are lost in this debate.
There is a difference between socialism, capitalism, and free markets and how these systems operate in different countries and hemispheres.
Francis avoids rigid ideologies. He is not against free markets but is against those Masters of the Universe (Think Lemans Bros, Goldman Sachs, Soros, crony capitalists) who rig the system that in turn impoverishes others. This is rampant in Latin American “capitalism,” where corruption is endemic.
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