Pope Francis. Credit: Stephen Driscoll / CNA.
Posted on 04/04/2014 5:16:13 PM PDT by NYer
.- In a March 31 interview with communications students, Pope Francis responded to previous accusations of being a communist, explaining that his preference for the poor is in fact based in the Gospel.
“I heard two months ago that a person referred to my preference for speaking about the poor, saying: 'This Pope is a communist, no?' And no, this is the banner of the Gospel, not of communism, of the Gospel,” the Pope explained during the encounter.
Given to three Belgian youth who are studying communications sciences, the interview was broadcast on the evening of April 3 on the Belgium website deredactie.be., and was later picked up by Italian news agency ReppublicaTV.
During the interview, one student asked the Pope where his preference for the poor and most needy comes from, to which the pontiff responded: “Because this is the heart of the Gospel, and I am a believer, I believe in God, I believe in Christ, I believe in the Gospel, and the heart of the Gospel is the poor.”
“And because of this I believe that the poor are the center of the Gospel of Jesus. This is clear if we read it,” he affirmed.
Later on, a student expressed to the Pope that despite not being a believer, she feels inspired by him because of his work.
Pope Francis emphasized to the students that “people need to try to speak with authenticity.”
“My authenticity is that I am speaking with brothers, all of us are brothers, believers, non-believers, of this religious profession, of another, Jews, Muslims, all of us are brothers. Man is at the center of history.”
According to Italian agency RaiNews, the interview was part of the communications project “Verses Vis,” involving a group of 15 youths from an initiative in Fiandra, a town in Northern Belgium, who received permission from the Vatican to videotape the encounter.
Responding to other questions, RaiNews reports that Pope Francis also observed that “in this moment of history, man has been cast down from being the most important, he has been drained to the peripheries, situated in the center of power, of money.”
“In this world the youth are expelled. Also the children, we don't want children, only small families,” he continued, adding that “also the elderly are expelled: many of them die because of hidden euthanasia, because no one takes care of them.”
“We have entered into a throwaway culture, and whatever doesn't serve this globalization is discarded: the elderly, children and the youth.”
Ping!
that’s fine, as far as what people GIVE and not fine or Christian as far as when the state legally steals it from you
I’m all for it. But, the first approach should be VOLUNTARY sharing, not Caesar taking your property by force of arms
I agree. That is the important point that cannot be glossed over. Giving needs to be from the individual. It reminds the individual that what they have is due to the Grace of God, and that God wants those that have to help those in need (love thy neighbor as thyself). It should never be done by some soulless bureaucracy. It separates the Giver from the Givee, and the Giver from his God given responsibility. It blinds the Givee from seeing that he is the recipient of charity. It also creates a land of social engineers who steal from those that have, pocket most for themselves, and then pass some crumbs to those that have not. It routinizes the process so that those that receive believe they have an entitlement to others earnings - and the bureaucratic social engineers perpetuate this delusion.
I admit that I did not read the article - I just jumped to the comments - but I am not clear what side this Pope Francis falls on. I get the impression he'd be quite content with government driven theft. But perhaps that was just due to previous misquotes (or comments taken out of context).
Holy Father, when we care for the poor by voluntary means (with as much urging as the priests can muster-—is fine with me!)......
it is Biblical.
When we “care’ for the poor by having an all-powerful Caesar seize our income and private property by force of arms, in order to redistribute part of it.... this does not look like at all like a Biblical or Christian way to do things.
It is possible to mean well and even do some good things, but by wrong means.
I am reminded of the Catechism of the Church, which while recognizing that man lives in a society and must be socialized therein, goes on to teach that:
883 Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. The teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which “a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co- ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.”7
1884 God has not willed to reserve to himself all exercise of power. He entrusts to every creature the functions it is capable of performing, according to the capacities of its own nature. This mode of governance ought to be followed in social life. The way God acts in governing the world, which bears witness to such great regard for human freedom, should inspire the wisdom of those who govern human communities. They should behave as ministers of divine providence.
1885 The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order. (excerpted from Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, Part 3 Section 1 Chapter 2 Part 1)
Blessings,
fhc
If Christians actually followed Christ and helped the poor there wouldn’t be the need for to steal peoples money.
It’s rooted in the Gospels as long as you are using your own money, or the voluntary contributions of others, to help the poor.
Once you ask the government to take money from people by force of law, you have strayed from Christianity and entered the commie zone.
Yes but Jesus didn’t call on the government to help the poor.
Not true.
Jesus himself said there will always be poor people in need of help.
Well the premise is flawed as the "poor will always be with us". Christians could give all they want and there would still be the poor. Even if there were no poor the government would steal the money through taxes anyway so they could redistribute and control the population.
“...because of this I believe that the poor are the center of the Gospel of Jesus. This is clear if we read it,” he affirmed.”
To me, the center of the Gospel of Jesus is not the poor, but those who help the poor.
Yes, Jesus asked the rich man to sell everything and follow Him, but becomimg poor wasn’t what he ultimately demanded: It was to help and care for others.
This is the Gospel I heard at a funeral today.
“When you did this to the least of my children, then you did it unto me.....give a drink, visit in prison, take them a meal, etc.
He is of course right. Charity is the gospel. It was co-opted by the marxists to make their evil more palatable.
The article, and perhaps the Pope, starts the argument on a wrong premise. No one advocates NOT taking care of the poor, what people object to is being forced at the point of a gun to give our money to the government for them to distribute as they see fit. THAT is communism
When you start with a wrong premise you come up with an incorrect conclusion.
Giving is a Blessing (Luke 6:38). Taxes, especially those that are excessive, are rarely spent, or shared wisely. The portion that might be responsibly shared, often results in people becoming dependent on government, and not their Heavenly Father.
The solution to poverty is in God’s Word:
2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 (KJV)
10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
And:
Ephesians 4:28 (KJV)
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
I think the Pope is referring to Rush Limbaugh here. Anyways, I am glad to see the Pope distancing himself from atheistic Communism.
It’s not PC to say this, but there’s a big difference between people who are genuinely poor—old people, the sick, the mentally incompetent who can’t hold a job, people living in really pitiable conditions—and the lazy, spoiled people who mooch off the welfare system. We’ve all seen the self-indulgent “poor” who spend all their time watching their big TVs and living off the taxpayer. I can’t believe that such people existed in the time of Christ or that He intends us to subsidize their extreme laziness, or the sin and filth that creates their “poverty.”
The question is, what does the Christian do when confronted with this ethical problem? How do we get these lazy, immoral, and sometimes not-too-bright people to go to work when there aren’t even jobs for those who are honest and hard-working? What would Jesus have us do? How do you make Mom go to work and improve her ethics without punishing her innocent children? It’s a mystery.
Can someone explain what the Pope means by saying the poor are at the "center of the Gospel of Jesus"? I think it is rather that ALL mankind is at the center of the gospel - the good news that Christ died for our sins so that we may ALL be reconciled to God through Him by faith. We certainly have a Christian duty to treat others as we would want to be treated and to look out for those who cannot take care of their own needs through no fault of their own. This includes children, the elderly, the disabled, the sick, etc. but I would hope the Pope does not think Christians must support, feed, clothe and shelter those who are lazy and who don't want to work - even if they had a job available to them. Paul said if a man didn't work, neither should he eat. Scripture gives us guidelines for how we can and should help others. But I would like some clarification on what Pope Francis means about the poor being at the center of the gospel. Is this just another "translation error"? Anyone?
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