Posted on 12/06/2013 4:43:34 AM PST by steelhead_trout
Since the release of Evangelii Gaudium there have been countless articles and commentary about the economic portions of Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation. Some of the commentary has been downright bizarre, such as Rush Limbaugh denouncing the Pope as a Marxist, or Stuart Varney accusing Francis of being a neo-socialist.
Not far below the surface of many of these critiques one hears the following refrain: why can’t the Pope just go back to talking about abortion? Why can’t we return the good old days of Pope John Paul II or Benedict XVI and talk 24/7/365 about sex? Why doesn’t Francis have the decency to limit himself to talking about Jesus and gays, while avoiding the rudeness of discussing economics in mixed company, an issue about which he has no expertise or competence?
These commentators all but come and out say: we embrace Catholic teaching when it concerns itself with “faith and morals”—when it denounces abortion, opposes gay marriage, and urges personal charity. This is the Catholicism that has been acceptable in polite conversation. This is a stripped-down Catholicism that doesn’t challenge fundamental articles of economic faith.
And it turns out that this version of Catholicism is a useful tool. It is precisely this portion of Catholicism that is acceptable to those who control the right narrative because it doesn’t truly endanger what’s most important to those who steer the Republic: maintaining an economic system premised upon limitless extraction, fostering of endless desires, and creating a widening gap between winners and losers that is papered over by mantras about favoring equality of opportunity.
(Excerpt) Read more at theamericanconservative.com ...
It was the pope, John I think, who, along with Thatcher, and Reagan who brought down the Soviet Union!
Something is terribly not right. But maybe there’s a reason.
Maybe the Pope was told that if he didn’t come out against capitalism (and the many variations thereof in his tome) that a bunch of innocent people would be murdered in some village somewhere.
Okay, so I write fiction, I dunno. And somewhere upthread my story, however vague and second-hand as I recounted, about the North Korean priests advocates is also true.....man, nobody’s worse on this planet than those awful Jong-Il’s....father or son. And we have some priest order demanding respect for them?
Something’s not right here, something is not right.
For now I’ll not be knee-jerk. Now’s the time to be brave and stick to your principles. Don’t let them pee upon my feet and tell me it’s raining. Do not deny it when THE EMPEROR IS WEARING NO CLOTHES!
As for leaving my religion, come on, stop trying to make ME the bad guy here. I know when I kneel down to pray it’s to my God, not the Pope.
I’m going to stick around and fight this from within. Note my anecdote (and it IS but an anecdote bear in mind) about my own parish priest.
This is not setting well....this is my hunch.
America, the youngest of all nations. She is the Superpower and Work Leader, fastest migration growth and numer one in almost every other category in terms of success standards.
The main reasons ...Capitalism, Judeo Christian foundational values and the Constitution/Bill of Rights.
Those three building blocks are under masive assault from every angle. This is why you are now seeing the decline of America. Socialism, Marxism, Communism are not designed for rapid growth and prosperity. They are a means of control once the government decides it is satisfied with its current status. Like a choke collar on a race horse.
Well, I believe it was St. John Eudes who said that when we get bad clergy it is because Our Lord is very angry with us. I can see how He would be extremely angry, since the Bishops did nothing to stop the legalization of abortion in this country, and they still allow pro-abortion politicians to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. That is a major sacrilege! In addition, the Fatima requests have not been carried out properly. So, when you look at the bad clergy and this WEIRD pope in the context of Our Lord being angry, it all makes sense. The only thing you can do is pray and fast.
In addition, it was one of the stated Communist Goals to infiltrate the seminaries and subsequently the churches and hierarchy. Take everything you hear and read with a grain of salt and stay grounded in Holy Scripture and the Rosary.
I, for one, pay no attention whatsoever to what Francis says. If I want to find out what true and holy Popes have said on any subject, I will read St. Pius X or Leo XIII.
He’s no more a socialist or marxist than the man in the moon. Francis fought long and hard against liberation/marxist theology in Argentina, something that is lost on his bashers from the left and right. I thought Limbaugh was smarter than this. The brit Varney I could care less what he thinks.
Is Pope Francis (formerly known as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio) a socialist who will allow liberation theology to infiltrate the Catholic Church? This question, when posed, caused Sam Gregg, research director at the Action Institute, a conservative think tank, to chuckle. TheBlaze interviewed Gregg on Friday to speak further about Francis’ take on poverty and social justice.
As over-the-top as the aforementioned curiosity sounds, since the pontiff’s election on Wednesday, some have quietly been voicing concerns. And there’s no doubt that outlets, pundits and political observers, alike, have spent the past week exploring Francis’ background in an effort to better understand where he stands on the economic front.
A LOVER OF LIBERATION THEOLOGY AND SOCIALISM?
So, what’s the verdict?
Well, it’s clear from his past and present statements and behaviors that Pope Francis cares deeply about the poor and that he lives a very humble and — by all accounts — modest life (he cooked his own meals, took public transportation and decided not to live in lavish quarters). But how far does this devotion to the poor go? Is Francis concerned with government structure and taxation or will he stick firmly to the faith and encouraging believers to help those in need?
This quest for context and its associated curiosities, of course, is nothing new. Whenever a new pope is elected, the public and media, alike, look incessantly for any and all information that will shed light on the new-found faith leader’s character and a past actions. And considering that the Catholic Church has 1.2 billion members across the globe, Pope Francis’ viewpoints matter, mostly because of the control and influence he will have over believers.
During a phone interview, Gregg explained Francis’ background and dismissed any claims that the pontiff is a socialist or has connections with liberation theology. As for the latter movement, the researcher explained that this ideology never took off in Argentina as it did in other Latin American countries — and, in fact, he credited Francis for liberation theology’s overall failure in the country.
I’m sorry to read the sentiments you have expressed in this post.
Are you aware that the media zoomed in on about one page of his exhortation.
He really didn’t say the things that media is broadcasting at all....a lot of mistranslation — especially the “trickle down” part.
Thank you for this post.
As someone with close ties to family in Argentina (including priests), I know that what you have written here is correct.
I feel a deep regret for much that has been expressed here on this thread, some of which I think has been hasty judgment, some of which is tantamont to slander-—which is a serious offense, even when shrouded by the anonymity of the internet.
I am now learning what that expression “some people are more holy than the Pope” actually means.
I came into the Church as a incredibly happy convert in 1949. Ever since Pius XII, there have been complaints about the Pope. Complaints about Pope Pius XII, about John the 23rd, about Paul the 6th, about John Paul II, about Pope Benedict. The Only Pope that didn’t get any flack was our “smiling September Pope”, John Paul I. (and that for obvious reasons). This barrage of defamatory remarks doesn’t exactly square with the prayers that are invoked for the Holy Father at every Mass offered throughout the world every day.
Seeing the way things are being being addressed here, I am becoming more and more convinced that Pope Francis could very well be the Pope that was envisioned by St. John Boscoe in his famous vision. In that vision he saw a Pope guiding the barque of Peter, being thrreatened from the left and from the right of the ship, but staying at the helm and guiding it through the 2 great Pillars of our faith-—two pillars to which Pope Francis has openly expressed fidelity.
Ouch!
There are 3 paragraphs. Which of those do you disagree with?
If one reads “Pascendi Dominici Gregis,” Pope St. Pius X’s encyclical against Modernism (which he defined as a heresy), one finds that many things that Pope Francis has said sound very much like what Pope St. Pius X warned against. It isn’t just this particular prouncement. Plus, one must ask why every time he makes a prouncement, someone has to come afterwards to explain that “it really wasn’t what he meant” or that “it was an inaccurate translation.” He ought to speak, as have previous Popes, so clearly that there is no room for doubt.
“Are you aware that the media zoomed in on about one page ...”
Are you aware that doesn’t excuse what was written in that one page?
Sir, attacking the down trodden is in bad taste.
Read this. She hits the nail on the head with what is going on with all the Pope bashing from the Left and Right.
Wow. Great piece.
I’m with her. She can count me in.
Thanks, Vet!
"We maintain the principle that there can be no lasting prosperity if free competition exists in industry. Therefore, it is the business of government not only to legislate for a minimum annual wage and maximum working schedule to be observed by industry, but also to curtail individualism that, if necessary, factories shall be licensed and their output shall be limited."Palaeoconservative hero Father Charles Edward Coughlin
“Paleoconservative”? Coughlin was a Hitler admiring fascist.
Early in his career, Coughlin was a vocal supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his early New Deal proposals, before later becoming a harsh critic of Roosevelt as too friendly to bankers.[3] In 1934 he announced a new political organization called the National Union for Social Justice. He wrote a platform calling for monetary reforms, the nationalization of major industries and railroads, and protection of the rights of labor. The membership ran into the millions, resembling the Populist movement of the 1890s.[4]
After hinting at attacks on Jewish bankers, Coughlin began to use his radio program to issue antisemitic commentary, and later to support at least some of the policies of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.[5] The broadcasts have been called “a variation of the Fascist agenda applied to American culture”.[6] His chief topics were political and economic rather than religious, with his slogan being Social Justice, first with, and later against, the New Deal. Many American bishops as well as the Vatican wanted him silenced,[citation needed] but it was the Roosevelt administration that finally forced the cancellation of his radio program and forbade the dissemination through the post of his newspaper, Social Justice.[7]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Coughlin
Bill Buckley once reminded us that capitalism is not an ideology but a method of creating wealth. That the worst thing about capitalism was capitalists. Ever notice how so many men who are industrial giants end up by thinking they have something important to say about other matters and do not? I am thinking about Henry Ford, but I could be talking about Bill Gates.
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