This Pope lives in a world of his own.
May be nuanced in Morrissey’s mind but the rest of the world will see a pope promoting socialism. I find it hard to disagree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shoes_of_the_Fisherman
THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN
At his papal coronation, Kiril removes his tiara (in a gesture of humility) and states this intent to give away a majority of Church’s riches, much to the delight of the crowds in St. Peter’s Square below.
He could always go this route .
Yes, Frankie, but the way I remember the story, nobody put a gun to Zaccheus’s head to compel him to donate money against his will.
Right?
Let us not forget -
Zachaeus was a dishonest tax collector for the government, ie, a typical leftist gov’t employee.
The media will always deviate from the actual statement of redistribution of wealth from a cultural aspect to that of redistribution of wealth from the wealthy. Keep in mind it is not the wealthy wealthy it is the middle class that will be destroyed. This is the aspect that media does not want the people to know. The media in America is Obama’s foot soldier his army, vast strong and radically funded to destroy America’s middle class
Quote- by the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the State
The state handing out checks doesn’t give the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the glory..
The state gets the glory.. and the praise..
Now if his church wants to dip into the war chest and start handing out the goodies, that would be nice.
IB4TPWMA
In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth.
-- from the thread Encycli-bites for reading “Caritas in veritate”
Dear Sir,
They did tried that in france a couple of hundred years ago. It did not exactly go as planned.
Since then they have tried it in about 30 other countries. Guess what? It didn't exactly go as planned those times either.
The end result was, million of people dead, millions enslaved in camps and billions living in dire poverty when there was no need.
Now you want the entire world to try it at once?
Have you thought this through?
Best
HTB
I always thought that sounded weaselly. Why the "IF"? Why not say "and the people I cheated I will pay back four times"?
I don't know, maybe it is an artifact of the translation.
The political implications taint the perfectly fine pastoral encouragements.
“This may not be the most conservative or libertarian expression of economic policies, but it’s basic Catholic teaching on economics for decades, if not centuries”
So, if you’re Catholic, and an economic conservative, you are basically promoting a heretical view?
Eventually Catholics will get tired of this nonsense.
Ah, infallibility!
"Political and economic agents" - IOW those with the power to tax and redistribute wealth? That appears to be what he is implying.
In the 80’s we had Reagan and Pope JPII reinforcing each others message of freedom and ultimately ripping communism from Europe.
Now we have Obama and this Pope reinforcing each others message of dependence and socialism - and ripping out the foundations of capitalism, and indeed all of western civilization.
It is going to get interesting. Wonder what will happen when he goes and says that divorce carries little penalty.
For those who only look at the pictures instead of reading the articles, they should please read at least this one line:
It’s clear, though, that he wasn’t calling for widespread and massive confiscation of wealth by governments.
And it might be wise to remember that another of the most important lessons of the story of Zacchaeus is that Jesus was reaching out to a social pariah extending his grace, just as he did to lepers and prostitutes and (as he would do today) "typical left wing bureaucrats."
**It is the encounter between Jesus Christ and the rich tax collector Zacchaeus, as a result of which Zacchaeus made a radical decision of sharing and justice, because his conscience had been awakened by the gaze of Jesus. **
One of the prime examples of evangelization and conversion.
***Who was Zaccheaus?***
If I remember my Sunday school lessons correctly correctly Zaccheaus was a wee little man.
“Should we look to kings and princes to put right the inequalities between rich and poor? Should we require soldiers to come and seize the rich person’s gold and distribute it among his destitute neighbors? Should we beg the emperor to impose a tax on the rich so great that it reduces them to the level of the poor and then to share the proceeds of that tax among everyone? Equality imposed by force would achieve nothing, and do much harm. Those who combined both cruel hearts and sharp minds would soon find ways of making themselves rich again.Worse still, the rich whose gold was taken away would feel bitter and resentful; while the poor who received the gold from the hands of soldiers would feel no gratitude, because no generosity would have prompted the gift. Far from bringing moral benefit to society, it would actually do moral harm. Material justice cannot be accomplished by compulsion, a change of heart will not follow. The only way to achieve true justice is to change people’s hearts first—and then they will joyfully share their wealth.”
-– St. John Chrysostom on the poor from On Living Simply XLIII