Posted on 12/01/2013 6:24:54 AM PST by SeekAndFind
In his first major publication, Pope Francis last week came down on capitalism and income inequality to the predictable applause of the mainstream media.
This led syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer to joke on PBS’s Inside Washington Friday, “The Pope is a Democrat. He ought to run for the presidency” (video follows with transcript and commentary):
GORDON PETERSON, HOST: The new Pope is shaking things up. This week in his first major publication, Pope Francis is talking about income inequality. The Pope asks, “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it’s news when the stock market loses two points?” How would you answer that, Charles, if the Pope was sitting right here?
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I’d say the Pope is a Democrat. [Laughter] He ought to run, he ought to run for the presidency. I mean, look, this is a traditional position of the church. There are arguments inside of the Church, there are Catholic intellectuals who write in defense of capitalism. But he’s from that tradition of the social gospel. And it is the original message to clothe the naked and to feed the hungry.
And he’s not just a man who preaches it. He is a man who lived it in his own life, in the humility of his own life. And I think there’s incredible authenticity behind it. So, I think it’s going to have a lot of influence, and I think it will unfortunately set back the movement in the Church at least recognizing how capitalism and the free market allows for the flourishing of individuals in a way that socialism and of course communism never did. So, I do not know how that’s going to affect that argument, but I credit him with sincerity and an incredibly good heart.
It's also fascinating to watch media members that hate religion and have been mocking the Catholic Church for years suddenly love the Pope because he's made some comments that fit with their political ideology.
The hypocrisy would be laughable if it weren't so predictable.
Not so fast-
He's from his own little world and stuck in it. Communism does not work.
/s
Leni
Of course it’s out of sight and out of mind when he says things like “progressivism is fruits of the devil”. I’m not exactly sure where this Pope stands on politics, but even I can admit that capitalism isn’t perfect. That is important, because recognizing the flaws in a system allows that system to be maintained and corrected. Liberals, however, refuse to admit any of the flaws in socialism, and so those flaws just get larger with time.
ME: The Pope Is a Communist He Ought to Run For President of Cuba
Wow. Where to begin. I guess with, he rode the bus when he was a Cardinal. He doesn’t live in the Papal apartments. The wealth of the Vatican is not his to sell off. Assuming though that he could, having sold off all the capital and spent it on the poor, what does he use to pay the electric bill? I guess he could just shut the now empty buildings down or start charging admission so that only the wealthy had access to these treasures. Pretty sure that would not be what Christ wants. I’m okay with the US president having security and a nice place to live even if I hate his politics but not okay with the flagrant display of wealth and the hundreds of SUVs he hauls around with him. So not sure what you might want the Pope to do.
Krauthammer is wrong on this one.
At a family meal, a distant relative, upon realizing I’m a Catholic, started in on how finally the Catholic Church has a Pope who wants to take care of the Pope and don’t I love “this” Pope. The implication was that I didn’t like previous popes so after making sure she knew I had loved every pope in my lifetime, I talked about how though out Church history, the ministry to the poor has been central. Lots of man made deviations to be sure but from the Apostles to St. Francis to the present, the Church as fed the poor, founded hospitals and universities, educated people, etc. Not just a bunch of fat old men in dresses.
precisely
Yep, The American Thinker (your link provided) summarizes it this way:
EXCERPT
The exhortation needs to be taken as a whole, not cherry-picked apart depending on one’s political viewpoint. In his exhortation, Pope Francis chides both liberals and conservatives, society in general, self-centeredness, secularism, totalitarianism, the Catholic Church, the division that exists among Christian Churches, the “silent complicity” that enables human trafficking, and even priests who deliver boring homilies.
Overall, Evangelii Gaudium might be best summed up as a call to the faithful to renew themselves in Christ. And, in general, Pope Francis is saying to the entire world, ‘C’mon people, we can do better; we need to do better!’ It’s almost as if he is saying, ‘with all the intelligence and brainpower in the world today, it’s hard for me to understand why things are getting worse instead of better.’
What Pope Francis might be saying to all of us is that there is an awful lot that needs fixing in this world, and all it starts with each of us fixing ourselves first.
You are totally wrong here. Why would you say such a thing about anyone?
It’s most bothersome when someone has to clarify or defend what someone else said, if the pope was misinterpreted or cherry picked to the point of causing such doubt, then he should come out and clarify it himself.
It is a simple thing to say what you mean and mean what you say, without using long drawn out homilies which in and of itself causes misunderstanding and confusion.
The pope has hard core defenders no matter what he says, much like obama has, as if he cannot do or say anything wrong.
Socialism works only on written paper. In the imperfect world of flawed humanity its a failure. The Vatican should help the poor get out of their poverty and not worship poverty as some sort of sacrament. Help others learn to fish and not berate the productive, wealthy fishermen.
Isn’t obtaining wealth and sharing it noble and christian-like also? Class warfare garbage has no place in the pulpit. Yes the church has a duty to help the poor but also to lift them out of it too.
Sarah Palin is an idiot! She must be because the media told me she said she could see RUSSIA from her house.
/s
This Pope lives in his own world.
He see’s rich and poor, He does not see how each got that way
Of course there are many who were born rich, but there are many worked for those riches. Most of those who worked for those riches are the people who are paying to keep his Church’s open.
This should be fun, the priests that lurk and post here will come out of the woodwork, I go so far as to say he is a radical leftist.
RE: I go so far as to say he is a radical leftist.
I would call the Pope a leftist ONLY IF he endorsed a Peronist or a Socialist or a Marxist government.
But there was not even a recommendation of ANY FORM of government in his writing.
Is Jesus Christ a Marxist when he said :
What shall it profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?
OR
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
OR
Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.
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