Everything you need to know about Pope Francis’s macroeconomic views

Washington Post ^ | 03/14/2013 | by Dylan Matthews

[SeekAndFind]

We have a new pope! Pope Francis I, formerly Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, is the first Latin American pope, and indeed the first pope not from Europe or Northern Africa.

While considered a long shot in the betting markets — correcting for bookie profit, Paddy Power gave him a 2 percent chance, and Betfair a 0.7 percent chance, last I checked — he was widely considered the runner-up in the 2005 race for pope, a fact confirmed by leaked diaries after the fact.

He also has one of the more interesting political records of any of the papabili. When Argentine president Cristina Fernández Kirchner fought successfully to legalize same-sex marriage, he vehemently opposed the move, stating, “This is no mere legislative bill. It is a move by the father of lies to confuse and deceive the children of God.”

According to National Catholic Reporter’s John Allen, the new pope steered clear of liberation theology — a branch of Catholic social thought which emphasizes the importance of reforming capitalist structures that disadvantage the poor — even as many of his peers in Latin America were embracing it. (Allen also notes that in 2005, Francis was accused by a human rights lawyer of helping the ruling junta in Argentina of kidnapping two liberal Jesuit priests who were subsequently “disappeared” as part of the government’s “Dirty War” against leftists in 1976. Francis denied the charges.)

But Francis also seems to be an opponent of austerity, most notably during his time as spiritual leader of Argentina when the country defaulted on its debt in 2002. A paper by Thomas Trebat, “Argentina, the Church, and Debt,” details the church’s role in the crisis’s resolution. Argentine bishops, including Francis, had long criticized the laissez-faire policies of Carlos Menem,

[Longbow1969]

And certain non-Catholics do not seem to understand Catholic Social Justice, as opposed to general cultural ideas among conservatives of what it is, yet babble on embarrassingly like they are experts on the matter. Get a clue. Read documents of The Church to learn about The Church, not some Ayn Rand forum.

Stop getting all defensive about it. I understand that there is supposed to be a difference, in theory, between Catholic Social Justice and big government liberalism, In practice though, it all too often seems to be one and the same. This very article talks about how the new Pope got involved in the economic arguments back in Argentina and opposed austerity and blamed laissez-faire policies for poverty. That is not a good sign at all.

The West needs to stop spending more than it has. The problem we have is too much of the liberal version of "social justice". I hope the Pope doesn't believe in the nanny state social welfare apparatus, but from what I read he opposed cutting it when that is precisely what Argentina had needed to do. Catholics tend, even sometimes the best of the clergy, to conflate government social welfare spending with "social justice". Other than abortion, gay marriage and contraception, the Catholic church is really very leftist on many of the big issues facing us - including economics, immigration, the death penalty, gun control, etc, etc.

[steve86]

Hello, thank you for your suggestion. I can not fulfill your request right at the moment, but would like to do so perhaps later today. The knowledge I carry in my head is not sufficient to give an adequate response, but I have been exposed to enough material while reviewing the kids’ Religious Education curriculum to pick up the disconnects. Again, thank you and I will bookmark this thread to return.

[steve86]

I apologize for my rude comment earlier. In way of lame self-defense, I had a truly horrible night with crampy stuff. Please refer to immediately preceding comment.

[FourtySeven]

Subsidiarity is the real, Catholic view of how poverty is to be treated; what we mean by social justice. I suspect this is how Pope Francis approaches the problem, not from a "big government" leftist approach.

rwilson99 explained the concept well here. Part of subsidiarity is, when local solutions prove impossible or unweildy, it is the role of government to provide as much assistance to get local solutions working again. This is not the same as saying its the government's responsibility to "feed the poor". It's not. It never is, in subsidiarity. However for government to help individuals (or small groups) to help others, it still costs money.

[Ol' Sox]

Here is a quick read on the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Please be sure to read the section on subsidiarity which is perhaps its least understood (or perhaps most ignored) aspect.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7538#PartV

[steve86]

Thanks. Were the idea of subsidiarity to be applied at all levels of government, commerce, charity, church, many problems would disappear, or at least be dealt with in a way that is acceptable to fiscal conservatives and ordinary working Americans.

[Longbow1969]

I apologize for my rude comment earlier.

No problem.

[archy]

Sounds about as good as we could have hoped for. I was waiting to hear that he was a Chavista.

Nah. Not the Archbiship of Buenos Aires. He is, however, a Porteño.

[TEXOKIE]

Sorry for my late answer.

Thanks for your reply. I’m not a Catholic and I was intrigued by the idea that “social justice” could actually mean two different things. Especially in the context of the news of a number of years ago I seem to recall with there being a bit of the Liberation Theology form of social justice invading the Latin American Catholic church.

I fully understand about time commitments. It appears that several other thread participants have answered my question for how to delve further into the issue.

Thanks to all of you for continuing my education!