Pope Francis’ remarks are being blown out of context here at FR and in the media. Governments do dominate the economic rent of economies, and it is indeed their obligation to grant some of that economic rent to the poorest of the poor. The UN is hardly known for its charity, in fact, it is known for its corruption.
Pope Francesco is humble and open. I saw him and heard his homily and a speech, during a pilgrimage to Rome with a group from my church in February: he asked our group to pray for him. He is genuine in his concern for the dignity of the individual and the preservation of life and care for the unborn. There were two babies in our pilgrimage group, and those were the ones he touched and greeted, among all of us there.
It is good that the Pope puts the question of wealth in context of charitable need, rather than the incompetent UN approach, and crooked US political twisted approach, with which entitlement programs are doled out here in in the US - like Obama phones. Obamabucks for Obama votes, no mystery there, and development of an entitlement class trapped in political slavery for the dole.
Believe it or not there are actual people seriously in need in this country, and there is massive underemployment and unemployment (myself recently among the statistics). The Kenyan has had the printing presses filling the pockets of the nationalist socialist communist elites in this country and around the world, at the cost of an unhealthy economy, and ineffective programs for the truly needy and real economic and social problems endemic in our system. It will be a miracle to survive his administration without massive national economic collapse.
Obamacare is the latest lie, which will further crush the free economy and people in this country. We are not witnessing wealth redistribution in the USA. It is purely theft by government and payment of political patrimony. The truly poor and needy are still suffering deeply, and it is partly the government’s job to do something about that. Individuals, and institutions, including the Catholic Church, have important roles to play in filling such needs.
“You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” John 12:8
The Catholics are wrong, we can’t make a sudden switch back to the way we used to live, but we need to start disassembling this mess that the left has created, continuing to add to a direction that is wrong and hurting us in social areas and poverty, will only continue to make things worse.
Not in a sudden way that hurts you or anyone, but we need to start the slow process to return to the correctness that America proved.
He keeps wanting to add on to the destruction and wrong path, rather than to look at what worked in the United States for so long, and then start moving back in that direction.
He isn’t looking for the answer, he is restating his centuries old war against the American breakthrough, and breakout.
I think he is a humble communist more or less though.