Care for poor rooted in Gospel, not communism, Pope affirms

Rome, Italy, Apr 4, 2014 / 10:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a March 31 interview with communications students, Pope Francis responded to previous accusations of being a communist, explaining that his preference for the poor is in fact based in the Gospel.

“I heard two months ago that a person referred to my preference for speaking about the poor, saying: 'This Pope is a communist, no?' And no, this is the banner of the Gospel, not of communism, of the Gospel,” the Pope explained during the encounter.

Given to three Belgian youth who are studying communications sciences, the interview was broadcast on the evening of April 3 on the Belgium website deredactie.be., and was later picked up by Italian news agency ReppublicaTV.

During the interview, one student asked the Pope where his preference for the poor and most needy comes from, to which the pontiff responded: “Because this is the heart of the Gospel, and I am a believer, I believe in God, I believe in Christ, I believe in the Gospel, and the heart of the Gospel is the poor.”

“And because of this I believe that the poor are the center of the Gospel of Jesus. This is clear if we read it,” he affirmed.

Later on, a student expressed to the Pope that despite not being a believer, she feels inspired by him because of his work.

Pope Francis emphasized to the students that “people need to try to speak with authenticity.”

“My authenticity is that I am speaking with brothers, all of us are brothers, believers, non-believers, of this religious profession, of another, Jews, Muslims, all of us are brothers. Man is at the center of history.”

According to Italian agency RaiNews, the interview was part of the communications project “Verses Vis,” involving a group of 15 youths from an initiative in Fiandra, a town in Northern Belgium, who received permission from the Vatican to videotape the encounter.

Responding to other questions, RaiNews reports that Pope Francis also observed that “in this moment of history, man has been cast down from being the most important, he has been drained to the peripheries, situated in the center of power, of money.”

“In this world the youth are expelled. Also the children, we don't want children, only small families,” he continued, adding that “also the elderly are expelled: many of them die because of hidden euthanasia, because no one takes care of them.”

“We have entered into a throwaway culture, and whatever doesn't serve this globalization is discarded: the elderly, children and the youth.”

Are some people saying they don't believe in Christ's Beatitutdes?

Detailed Contents of Luke’s Sermon on the Plain:

.	LUKE	Matthew
Beatitudes: “Blessed are…”	6:20-23	5:3-12
Woes: “Woe to you who…”	6:24-26	[ch. 23]
Love your enemies (do good, bless, pray)	6:27-28	5:43-45
“Turn the other cheek…”	6:29-30	5:38-42
Golden Rule: “Do unto others…”	6:31	7:12
“If you love only those…”	6:32-34	5:46-47
Love your enemies (repeated)	6:35	x
Be merciful… as God is	6:36	5:48
Do not judge/condemn (cf. Mk 4:24)	6:37-38	7:1-2; 12:36-37
Can the blind lead the blind?	6:39	15:14
Disciples aren’t above teachers (cf. Jn 13:16)	6:40	10:24-25a
Parable of specks and planks	6:41-42	7:3-5
Trees with good or bad fruit	6:43-44	7:15-20; 12:33
Good/evil people produce good/evil	6:45	12:34-35
Don’t just call out, “Lord, Lord”	6:46	7:21-23
Parable of two houses	6:47-49	7:24-27
Conclusion/Transition	7:1	7:28-29; 8:1

Beatitudes and Woes (Luke: 6:20-26)
- 20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
  “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
  21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
  “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
  22 “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.
  23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
  24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
  25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
  “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
  26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Thanks NYer - excellent post - you already are aware of the following points, however - here is a general commentary:

The corporal works of mercy are expected to be done by Christians voluntarily and not forced through the state, as any pre Vatican II catechized Catholic would know. Way too many Catholics who were formed in the post 1960’s era have bought the mistaken idea that charity=government handouts and that is why the democratic party has successfully ended up harboring psuedo catholic Pelosi/Kennedy/Cuomo types within it. People bought the lies that the socialist approach was the more compassionate approach, which is absurd.

Almsgiving was expected in the ancient Jewish OT biblical world. Sirach 17:22, Tobit 4:5-11.

In the NT. St. Matthew assumes that people are giving alms: see Mattew 6: 2-4. None of this was coerced by the secular state; it was required by Jews and by the early Christians because of their faith.

The idea that communism/social justice somehow IS the gospel is a grave error that has lead down a terrible path for the Church that has messed up/infected Her liturgy, doctrine and indeed very heart. Liberation theology contains this error.

The corporal works of mercy are based on the beatitudes.

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