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 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).