Pope attacks global economics for worshipping 'god of money'

[xchrom]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/22/us-pope-economy-idUSBRE98L04H20130922

(Reuters) - Pope Francis made one of his strongest attacks on the global economic system on Sunday, saying it could no longer be based on a "god called money" and urged the unemployed to fight for work.

Francis, at the start of a day-long trip to the island's capital, put aside his prepared text at a meeting with unemployed workers, including miners in hard hats who told him of their situation, and improvised for nearly 20 minutes.

"I find suffering here ... It weakens you and robs you of hope," he said, "Excuse me if I use strong words, but where there is no work there is no dignity."

The crowd of tens of thousands of people in a square near the city port chanted "work, work, work" at the gathering, which took on the feel of a union rally.

Pope Francis: Money is the Root of All Evil


http://www.alternet.org/belief/pope-francis-money-root-all-evil

Pope Francis is really on a roll, even for this non-believer. Yesterday he rejected the Catholic Church's longtime focus on women's rights and homosexuality. Today, he says money is the root of all evil.

EXTRACT OF POPE'S HOMILY (Source: Vatican Radio)
Money sickens our minds, poisons our thoughts, even poisons our faith, leading us down the path of jealousy, quarrels, suspicion and conflict. It drives to idle words and pointless discussions. It also corrupts the mind of some people that see religion as a source of profit. 'I am Catholic, I go to Mass, everyone thinks well of me... But underneath I have my businesses. I worship money'. And here we have the word we usually find in newspapers: 'Men of corrupted minds'. Money corrupts us! There's no way out.”

“We can never serve God and money at the same time. It is not possible: either one or the other. This is not Communism. It is the true Gospel! They are the Lord's words. While money begins by offering a sense of well being. Then you feel important and vanity comes. We read in the Psalm. This vanity is useless, but still you think you are important. And after vanity comes pride. Those are the three steps: wealth, vanity and pride.”

“But, Father, I read the Ten Commandments and they say nothing about the evils of money. Against which Commandment do you sin when you do something for money? Against the first one! You worship a false idol. And this is the reason: because money becomes an idol and you worship it. And that's why Jesus tells us that you cannot serve money and the living God: either one or the other. The early Fathers of the Church, in the 3rd Century, around the year 200 or 300, put it in a very blunt way, calling money 'the dung of the devil'. An so it is. Because turns us into idolatrous, fills our thoughts with pride and leads us away from our faith.”

[hlthe2b]

1. Turn away from doctrinal misogyny and I may well become your biggest supporter...

(At least he seems to have taken his "namesake"'s message to heart some of these steps).

[Katashi_itto]

2. This Pope is awesome!

[TBF]

3. I love this guy -

and that's pretty good coming from someone who is not Catholic - in fact I am apathetic at best about religion in general.

The global capitalists are not going to appreciate him spouting off like this. My advice to him is to avoid small planes.

[fredamae]

4. This Pope

speaks for me on nearly Every issue. No elected leader comes remotely close, but for a small few.

I am not a fan of organized religion used as a façade for greed--corporatized propaganda, if you will...but I love this Pope.

If only the world leaders followed in his footsteps.......

Plus, the Nuns on the Bus haven't done too bad a job demonstrating/teaching the masses about compassion and equality for all either.

If the whole church lead from the heart like these good folks? I'd become a Catholic tomorrow.

[LuvNewcastle]

5. Wouldn't it be great if the Pope started a worldwide socialist worker's movement?

Where would all those RW Catholics go, like Santorum and Pat Buchanan? I'd love to see their faces.

[malaise]

6. 3...2...1

before the establishment attack him.

[BelgianMadCow]

7. He came out with a similar strong-worded attack on current capitalism

when he just arrived on the scene. Then, I thought "nice, but let's see". Well, we're seeing.
I hope he keeps it up - after all, he has a big audience in the west.

[Zorra]

8. Wow, that's refreshing. nt

[edhopper]

9. To bad the

Bishops and Cardinals in this country seem to support Republicans over Gay Rights, abortion and contraception.

[LuvNewcastle]

10. I wonder if he'll have more liberal clergy elevated to those positions.

It will be interesting to see what sort of men he'll choose to be new bishops and cardinals.

[Jefferson23]

11. Not a christian here. The gentleman is a leader for millions, clearly. His advocacy if he

continues to be vocal, could possibly make a huge difference.

The Vatican's financial trust is the largest in the world, is it not ? Who decides who
and what causes they give to, I don't know. I would hope he has authority
in that area and allocates money in a manner that is not dependent on adherence
to christian doctrine.

His words are refreshing to hear from an otherwise hostile establishment.

[DebJ]

12. Favorite quote " This is not Communism. It is the true Gospel!"

I am really loving this man. The Anti-Republican...... hm, with his values and those of the Republicans
in direct opposition, looks like the Republican Party might be the Anti-Christ. Quick, someone interpret
those biblical references to prove that.

[msongs]

13. the obscenely rich catholic church could stop taking a collection every Sunday and let poor people

keep their money for food

[Andy823]

14. I am not a Catholic

I don't have much use for organized religion, but this guy sounds like he is really trying to help the common people, not just give lip service and ignore the gap between the rich and the rest of us. If more religious leaders would do the same, look out for the average person instead of pushing the right wing politics, it would go a long way to helping fix the problems in this world. Sadly the rich, no mater what religion, seem to have their own way of interpreting the scriptures so that it has become the old "I got mine, the hell with everyone else". Hopefully this pope can help make needed changes at least in his religion.