Saturday, July 11, 2015

In Fiery Speeches, Francis Excoriates Global Capitalism

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — His speeches can blend biblical fury with apocalyptic doom. Pope Francis does not just criticize the excesses of global capitalism. He compares them to the “dung of the devil.” He does not simply argue that systemic “greed for money” is a bad thing. He calls it a “subtle dictatorship” that “condemns and enslaves men and women.”

Having returned to his native Latin America, Francis has renewed his left-leaning critiques on the inequalities of capitalism, describing it as an underlying cause of global injustice, and a prime cause of climate change. Francis escalated that line last week when he made a historic apology for the crimes of the Roman Catholic Church during the period of Spanish colonialism — even as he called for a global movement against a “new colonialism” rooted in an inequitable economic order.

The Argentine pope seemed to be asking for a social revolution.


Read the rest here.

4 comments:

lannes said...

Bartholomew is the Green Patriarch and Francis is the Red Pope.

lannes said...

I'm amazed that Francis could be so indifferent to the predictable reaction
of conservatives in his flock, which will be anything but enthusiastic.

Visibilium said...

Religious leaders in general tend not to like--or understand--capitalism. The Bishop of Rome hardly distinguishes himself in that realm.

BillB said...

I was directed here from Anglican Curmudgeon because of a quote in his latest post. The real issue is not capitalism and free markets but rather of crony capitalism which has infected the modern world. The article that is pointed to is problematic as it comes from the New York times which has an especially Liberal/Leftist slant to its "reporting". When it gets to people such as Soros with such fawning praise, the NY Times is creating a severe distortion of the reality of Soros and similar people. First, they are majorly crony capitalist. Second, they see the solution to "economic injustice" (as defined by the Left) as taking more money from the middle classes and redistributing it; therefore, creating an even larger number of poor and enhancing their own wealth with some of it. There have been wealthy Christians through out history that have used their gifts rightly but most of the issues today involve non-Christian(or Jew) or Pseudo-Christian(or Jew) people of wealth.