Posted on 05/09/2014 7:15:15 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today.
Francis made the appeal during a speech to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of major U.N. agencies who met in Rome this week.
Latin America's first pope has frequently lashed out at the injustices of capitalism and the global economic system that excludes so much of humanity, though his predecessors have voiced similar concerns.
On Friday, Francis called for the United Nations to promote a "worldwide ethical mobilization" of solidarity with the poor in a new spirit of generosity.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
“Redistributing wealth to the poor through “generosity” is called charity...”
Except he’s calling on the governments to do it, so it’s not charity, because it is not voluntary when the government has a gun to your head. That is just theft.
The Vatican website say that Pope Francis said “legitimate redistribution of benefits. Why did the AP change that to redistribution of wealth? That’s what I want to know. |
Either the Vatican is trying to put a positive spin on some outright stupid remarks the Pope said, or the MSM is trying to manipulate Il Papa's words to fit their agenda.
Or both.
Based on this and many other suspicious remarks Francis has made - I'm convinced he is a clueless leftist.
Now do Catholics get it? Francis is a Socialist hypocrite. Charity does not come from government. And like most Socialists, he wants OTHERS to give theirs away. You don’t see him auctioning off any part of his priceless empire to give to the “poor”.
The Catholic Church has no wealth to give away
The Marxists now own the world from top to bottom.
We now know what Zero and the pope discussed in their meeting.
Hey Pope, people need to EARN their money, not to get it by having it TAKEN from others. The church used to encourage people to better themselves through hard work and help for those that couldn’t through CHARITY, not confiscation.
If I were Catholic, I’d stop giving and donating to the church. After all, my taxes are enough “charity” for the poor, right?
I suspect the Pope would like ALL countries to follow Spain’s example. There a portion of taxes you pay to the State are allocated to the Church.
I just read his statement in context. He shared the story of the conversion of the tax collector who had been cheating people & keeping a cut for himself.
He converted & “redistributed” money to those he cheated & began to share his wealth.
“Legitimate” - voluntary - from the heart.
Once again- the left is fantasizing that the Pope is their new mascot
Caesar=Caesar...God=God!!!!
I would suggest then that the catholic church start first to set an example. They are one of the wealthiest entities in the world. So cash in the gold, sell the properties and ditch all that wealth there Francis, spread it around.
It depends on what the meaning of "legitimate" is. If it means "authorized by government" then it is forced redistribution. If it means charitable giving, perhaps enhanced and encouraged by government (charitable deduction, examples set by leaders), then it's a more traditional Christian sentiment.
I don't know his intention.
Our local “Catholic Charities” provides counseling in schools and social serves in the community all funded by the school district and local governments. This with a healthy overhead between 25% and as much as 40%. I know this through a friend that was a newly graduated social worker being paid a pittance of $19k per year for counseling in an elementary school, while she later found out that Catholic Charities was collecting 32% overhead. And, they gave her hell when she asked for a thirty dollar print cartridge, it cut into the gravy train. They also insisted that she limit her work in certain ways, it became clear this was in the hope that they might place another individual at the same location generating another 32% overhead.
Get use to the idea that the Catholic Church has become just another non-profit feeding off the government teat, a much more reliable revenue stream then their aging congregation.
When the Catholic Church advocates redistribution they are eyeballing a very healthy overhead on that redistribution.
In full disclosure, I grew up Catholic, I don’t otherwise have a bone to pick -though I’m discussed by the Church’s new coziness with government money.
The disciples were indignant about the waste of money and thought it should be redistributed to the poor. Jesus said "The poor will always be with you."
The Pope...and a whole LOT of people...need to understand that being poor is not a man's primary need. SALVATION through Christ alone is that primary need. Preach THAT and righteousness...and everything else will fall into place. Once you have that, God gives you the grace to know how to abound...or be abased...to have plenty or want (Philippians 4:12).
Please refund me the money I spent to send my daughter to catholic school!
Uncle Sam takes it now from my paycheck and the locals get their cut too. Most of what they take from me goes to those who do not work for a living. We have no say in the matter.
Since the pope does not pay taxes, he may not know how it works when you have to work for a living. Maybe the pope can sell some gold or other church extravagance to help the poor.
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