He and Obama seem to be on the same page regarding "spreading the wealth" around or, as the Pope says in this article "sharing the wealth".
He attacked the "widening gap between those who have more and those who must be content with the crumbs", calling on governments to implement "effective policies" to guarantee people's fundamental rights, including access to capital, services, educational resources, healthcare and technology.
What the Pope exactly said:
Moreover, if on the one hand we are seeing a reduction in absolute poverty, on the other hand we cannot fail to recognize that there is a serious rise in relative poverty, that is, instances of inequality between people and groups who live together in particular regions or in a determined historical-cultural context. In this sense, effective policies are needed to promote the principle of fraternity, securing for people – who are equal in dignity and in fundamental rights – access to capital, services, educational resources, healthcare and technology so that every person has the opportunity to express and realize his or her life project and can develop fully as a person.
The MSM strikes again.
That does it. He's a SOCIALIST.
I don't care how you try to parse or justify that one. He's done in my book. A leftist socialist totalitarian centralizer.
WHO gets to decide his "better distribution of income?" Precisely who is the elevated superior omniscient decider of "better"?
G-d would not elevate decisions above individuals to superior individuals. That's slavery and antithetical to the prime message of Exodus.
I reject this Pope.
Rooters, eh? I guess I’ll wait for an accurate translation.
The Pope actually says:
In a particular way, the agricultural sector is the primary productive sector with the crucial vocation of cultivating and protecting natural resources in order to feed humanity. In this regard the continuing disgrace of hunger in the world moves me to share with you the question: How are we using the earth’s resources? Contemporary societies should reflect on the hierarchy of priorities to which production is directed. It is a truly pressing duty to use the earth’s resources in such a way that all may be free from hunger. Initiatives and possible solutions are many, and are not limited to an increase in production. It is well known that present production is sufficient, and yet millions of persons continue to suffer and die from hunger, and this is a real scandal. We need, then, to find ways by which all may benefit from the fruits of the earth, not only to avoid the widening gap between those who have more and those who must be content with the crumbs, but above all because it is a question of justice, equality and respect for every human being. In this regard I would like to remind everyone of that necessary universal destination of all goods which is one of the fundamental principles of the Church’s social teaching. Respect for this principle is the essential condition for facilitating an effective and fair access to those essential and primary goods which every person needs and to which he or she has a right.
The Pope speaks about "access" and not guarantees of goods.
Many people on this thread love to just jump on board when it comes to the Pope and do not do their due diligence when it come to the source of these supposed statements like they would if it was attributing statements to their guy or gal. Truly a double standards put on display here.
“Pope attacks mega-salaries and wealth gap in peace message”
More Blah Blah Blah from this Pope. Typical libby platitudes without any actual recommendations. Precisely WHAT does he propose to fix this immaginary problem? Confiscation? Salary limits? HUGE taxes? Should the govt decide how much people earn? Sounds like he want the stupid, lazy and useless to have the same stuff as the productive folks.
Until he suggests specific policies I suggest the Pontiff just keep working his beads.
OK, he’s a socialist. Now you know why he’s on the cover of Time.
"Is there some society you know that doesn't run on greed? You think Russia doesn't run on greed? You think China doesn't run on greed? What is greed? Of course, none of us are greedy, it's only the other fellow who's greedy. The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn't construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn't revolutionize the automobile industry that way. In the only cases in which the masses have escaped from the kind of grinding poverty you're talking about, the only cases in recorded history, are where they have had capitalism and largely free trade. If you want to know where the masses are worse off, worst off, it's exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that. So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear, that there is no alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by the free-enterprise system."
-Milton Friedman
Well gosh Pope, Obama is quickly turning this nation into the U. S. S. R., so there’s still hope. Don’t give up on us yet.
I try not to be too disrespectful, but some of this Pope’s comments take it right out of my hands. He’s destroying his own credibility on financial matters.
The Catholic Church is the richest in the world. Maybe he will spread some of that wealth around to the individual. I could use an extra $50-thousand.
But it turns out to be surprisingly difficult to understand exactly how rich the church is. That’s in part because church finances are complicated. But it’s also because, in the United States at least, churches in general are exempted from the financial reporting and disclosure requirements that otherwise apply to nonprofit groups. And it turns out, that exemption may have undesirable consequences.
The main thing we know about Catholic Church finance is that in cash flow terms, the United States is by far the most important branch. America is a rich country with a large population of Catholics. What’s more, America’s Catholic population is a religious minority. That’s meant that, rather than using political clout to influence the shape of mainstream government institutions, as in an overwhelmingly Catholic country such as Brazil, the Catholic Church in the United States has created a parallel state: a vast web of schools, hospitals, universities, and charities that serve millions of clients.
Our best window into the overall financial picture of American Catholicism comes from a 2012 investigation by the Economist, which offered a rough-and-ready estimate of $170 billion in annual spending, of which almost $150 billion is associated with church-affiliated hospitals and institutions of higher education. The operating budget for ordinary parishes, at around $11 billion a year, is a relatively small share, and Catholic Charities is a smaller share still.
Apple and General Motors, by way of comparison, each had revenue of about $150 billion worldwide in Fiscal Year 2012. Legally speaking, there is no such thing as “the Catholic Church,” which is why these finances get so complicated. As far as the law is concerned, each diocese is a separate legal entity, incorporated in the states where it operates. Generally speaking, they are organized as what’s known as a corporation sole—a legal corporation wholly controlled by the individual bishop rather than a board of directors—and not officially part of any larger transnational spiritual organization. This has led to conflicts during the sex abuse scandals. Lawsuits have caused disputes about how deep the church’s pockets go and who should pay.
We tried that access to capital.
In 2008, we were shown just what a swell idea that was.
Heck, five years, that was such a long time ago. It would be easy to forget... /s
...unless you still don’t have a job, or are making less than 50% what you were prior to the easy access to credit bubble burst.
Ok. The Pope is a Socialist. Can’t believe I could actually post that as a fact. My how the cancerous left infiltrates everything. Now the Church. Doesn’t seem to be any refuge from them anywhere.
It’s so pleasing for many cafeteria-style ‘catholics” (small C is appropriate) that this fresh pope shares the views of the current phony president.
He , like his predecessors subsequent to Pope Pius XII, is a flaming socialist who doesn’t understand that he was supposed to be a successor to Saint Peter.
>> He and Obama seem to be on the same page
Except under Obama, the wealth gap has increased.
Govt policy that facilitates small business capitalism is one that would better spread the wealth through natural means, and not through the iron fist of govt.
Communism and tyranny best exemplify the most severe wealth disparity.
Start taxing the church if it wants to go political.
I consider the commentary from this Pope very carefully. So far on numerous occasions he has been misunderstood by a media taking a few lines out of the context of the conversation.
And let’s all face reality ....capitalism ...as most of us would define it and prefer it demands a moral foundation. Within that context we would not need to spread the wealth around for every person would conduct themselves according to that morality.
Modern day ‘capitalism’ is corrupted as evidence by the very discussion on Rush Limbaugh today regarding the wealthiest/”smartest” zip codes. One would quickly realize that what masquerades as capitalism and wealth is but a façade of evil and looters. So for a twisted modern world, capitalism, is the folly of the evil and the result is an increase in the wealth gap.
So I say and perhaps even agree with this Pope...that we slay this ‘capitalist’ monster and carve away from the bones that which is diseased and dead. Let us again try to raise up a moral economy based on the Biblical standards. Let us set up a new economic language that separates this new economy from that of progressives/liberal/Marxists.
Yes, I do see room for the rebuke of wealth. Wealth gained through deceit, treachery and every form of underhanded dealings. While you and I understand that this is not capitalism as we would define it, millions do not.
Liberals think there is this one economic pie that is a zero-sum game.
They just can’t grasp the concept of the pie getting bigger with human enterprise and investment.
Luke 18:9-14
New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
bkmk
There is no CEO in the world living in as grand a resildence as the Pope.
There is no CEO in the world treated with the reverence and respect of his employee that the Pope receives.
medice, cura te ipsum