Building on statements he has made before – and this time, making it clear it’s his official position – Pope Francis I is blasting “the tyranny of unfettered capitalism” and demands that politicians guarantee citizens “dignified work, education and health care.”
In a long apostolic exhortation to Catholic bishops, priests, workers and the laity, issued Nov. 25, Francis compares “the idolatry of money” to Biblical worship of the Golden Calf. He calls it a “new tyranny,” and declares “Money must serve, not rule.”
“Just as the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ sets a limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say ‘Thou shalt not,’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills,” the Pope says.
The exhortation makes it clear that Francis expects Catholic officials and laity to follow its principles. The document is not the first time Francis I denounced economic inequality and spoken up for workers, the jobless and the poor, but it is the strongest and most comprehensive statement on the issue during his papacy.
Several months ago in Sardinia, Francis threw away his prepared sermon – which was already critical of economic trends – and slammed the chasm between the rich and the rest of us. This exhortation goes far beyond that sermon.
Francis’ statement is also squarely in one church tradition, of Catholic Social Thought, which started in the 1890s. That tradition backs workers and unions and denounces the impact of unfettered industrialization and capitalism.
But over the years, many Catholics, including lay leaders, politicians, industrialists and even clergy, have ignored or defied Catholic Social Thought’s precepts. In this document, Francis wants them – and the world’s 1 billion Catholics -- to follow those precepts.
His exhortation, which covers issues besides economics, is more detailed and grounds his words in both the Old Testament, including the Torah and the Hebrew prophets, and in the New Testament and the Gospels. And Francis pulls no punches.
He also made it clear he seeks results. “We cannot passively and calmly wait in our church buildings,” he says, citing Latin American bishops. “We need to move from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry.
Labeling his section on wealth and inequality “No to an economy of exclusion,” Francis started with his ‘Thou shalt not,’ comment and went on from there.
“How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly home¬less person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?” Francis asks. “This is a case of exclusion.
“Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the sur¬vival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of peo¬ple find themselves excluded and marginalized, without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.”
The Pope also criticizes corporate attitudes that “human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a ‘throw away’ culture which is now spreading.”
Building on statements he has made before – and this time, making it clear it’s his official position – Pope Francis I is blasting “the tyranny of unfettered capitalism” and demands that politicians guarantee citizens “dignified work, education and health care.”
In a long apostolic exhortation to Catholic bishops, priests, workers and the laity, issued Nov. 25, Francis compares “the idolatry of money” to Biblical worship of the Golden Calf. He calls it a “new tyranny,” and declares “Money must serve, not rule.”
“Just as the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ sets a limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say ‘Thou shalt not,’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills,” the Pope says.
The exhortation makes it clear that Francis expects Catholic officials and laity to follow its principles. The document is not the first time Francis I denounced economic inequality and spoken up for workers, the jobless and the poor, but it is the strongest and most comprehensive statement on the issue during his papacy.
Several months ago in Sardinia, Francis threw away his prepared sermon – which was already critical of economic trends – and slammed the chasm between the rich and the rest of us. This exhortation goes far beyond that sermon.
Francis’ statement is also squarely in one church tradition, of Catholic Social Thought, which started in the 1890s. That tradition backs workers and unions and denounces the impact of unfettered industrialization and capitalism.
But over the years, many Catholics, including lay leaders, politicians, industrialists and even clergy, have ignored or defied Catholic Social Thought’s precepts. In this document, Francis wants them – and the world’s 1 billion Catholics — to follow those precepts.
His exhortation, which covers issues besides economics, is more detailed and grounds his words in both the Old Testament, including the Torah and the Hebrew prophets, and in the New Testament and the Gospels. And Francis pulls no punches.
He also made it clear he seeks results. “We cannot passively and calmly wait in our church buildings,” he says, citing Latin American bishops. “We need to move from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry.
Labeling his section on wealth and inequality “No to an economy of exclusion,” Francis started with his ‘Thou shalt not,’ comment and went on from there.
“How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly home¬less person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?” Francis asks. “This is a case of exclusion.
“Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the sur¬vival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of peo¬ple find themselves excluded and marginalized, without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.”
The Pope also criticizes corporate attitudes that “human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a ‘throw away’ culture which is now spreading.”