How is it good that he wants to do away with Capitalism?
So Benedict and Francis are on the same page on Free Enterprise (”Capitalism”)?
The ‘unfettered capitalist’ has money as his goal. The results are Darwinian because of the unequal abilities and heritage of humans. The rich will get richer and the number of Democrats will increase, unless putting some successful fetters on the right to vote.
Yeah. It's really great.
"I'm not offended at being identified with an ideology whose chief exports are oppression, torture, and murder, because there are some adherents who're pleasant about it."
Hmmmm Marxism in the Vatican -OR- socialism in all of Europe...
Worth saying that .. Communism “IS” Socialism..
All of Europe(and Canada) has been defeated by Marxism long ago..
It’s a tempest in a teapot.. including the Vatican..
Soon the USSA will join them.. unless that happened Nov 6th 2012..
The only specific quote I used was the one regarding the “trickle-down theories” which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and social inclusiveness in the world.
More rubbish of the same kind as before.
The pope is just jealous that Free Market economics has done more to help the poor in a few generations than his church did in nineteen centuries.
You must read to the end of the article to find that Pope Benedict XVI did not actually write anything in defense of Pope Francis. (Remember he said that he would go quietly into retirement and remain silent?)
The quotes from Benedict in supposed defense of Francis are from 1985 ... before Benedict was even the Pope.
A misleading article, IMO.
First of all, the Church tradition and the Scripture overwhelmingly endorse industry and lawful accumulation of capital, and they always have. They are primary attributes of capitalism.
Conversely, the Church has always condemned envy, overconsumption, sloth, and failure to risk, plan, save, and invest. Those are things characteristic of socialists.
Starting with Genesis, when God threw Adam and Eve out of the Garden, He told them that they would have to "earn their bread by the sweat of their brow," referring to capitalism, individual effort at labor, individual savings and individual consumption.
Then for centuries, throughout the narrative of the Old Testament, including the rest of Genesis, Psalms, Wisdom, and other books, good behavior by humans was generally rewarded by God with earthly bounty, or, generally, people were considered favored by God if they had productive lives, including lots of offspring, food, land, cattle, and material goods.
Skip to the New Testament, where Jesus told many, many parables in which the capitalist ethic was stressed and endorsed as syntonic with the Good News.Examples are the Parable of the Talents, the Parable of the Sower, and many quotes such as "The worker is worth his salt," and "Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest," and "By your fruits will you be known." Of course the goods referred to are usually spiritual ones, but not exclusively. Thus the quote "Seek the kingdom, and everything else will be added unto you." The examples of earthly 'Smithian' work and reward are presented in parallel, not in contradistinction to, the spiritual works and rewards of the Faith. They are consonant, not opposites.
There were also minor miracles Jesus did related to adverse outcomes for those beings which did not produce, for example, the withering of the fig tree after Jesus saw that it was barren. The first miracle after the Resurrection was when he commanded his disciples to cast their nets into the sea, and a bountiful catch followed.
Many other examples are there which have the spirit and flavor of Smithian economics, not socialism or collectivism.
So to assert that capitalism is in conflict with the Catholic faith is not only wrong, it is a sign of the South American Liberation Theology heresy that mixes socialism and Christianity.
It is clear that Francis has been steeped in this, and he would benefit from listening to Rush more.
I won't even start the discussion about how socialism is nearly always coincident with atheism, persecution of religion, genocide, abortion, the homosexual agenda, and the raw bare sin of envy.
Francis, if not disingenuous about socialism, is certainly indoctrinated in it to the point of total blindness to the truth about economics. He needs to knock off the socialism stuff.
Doublemint Twin Popes Advocating Marxism - Placemarker
“The promise was that when the glass was full, it would overflow, benefitting the poor.”
Really? Who in the hell ever said that?
Eventually, these liberals will find that Pope Francis is no Obama. And that he’s not the progressive/socialist/liberal that the msm makes him out to be. He’s probably going to be one of the most misunderstood Popes in history.
Pope Francis, however, plows into the subject without preparing the ground with any philosophical underpinings. In his Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis says:
... some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.
To use Cardinal Ratzinger's word, that is a deterministic statement. It is also a terminally judgemental conclusion about a natural secular phenomenon. A few days later, Francis says that, ipse dixit, his previous economic observations were consistent with Church doctrine.
Pope Francis has staked out his radical position on the subject. Francis leaves no room to conclude that he may have misunderstood or misspoken. These statements should be juxtaposed with others that he has made concerning Church conservatives.
By contrast, in addressing the myriad divisive causes of socialism, such as abortion, homosexuality, and Islam, Pope Francis exhorts us not to be judgmental.