Pope urges legitimate(??) re-distribution of wealth


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"Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth and benefits to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today".

Sweep aside, for the moment, the immorality of the Pope's pleas for more collectivism..more looting of the productive for the sake of the unproductive.

It's the hypocrisy I find most astounding.

Has his Eminence(?) given up the luxurious life style he enjoys...from the silk robes to the chauffeur driven limousine to the servants at his beckon call to the palace he lives in?

Why hasn't he, this self-professed champion of the downtrodden, liquidated the financial / real estate holdings of the Catholic Church and re-redistributed the proceeds to the poor? Now that would go a long way. Why hasn't he placed a "For Sale" sign on the Vatican?

Surely a 2 bedroom apartment would suffice as his residence.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_UN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-09-06-31-28

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Supposedly the Pope was mistranslated...

So sayeth the Huffington Post, ergo it must be true…

Noting a “rising sense of frustration” at the worldwide economic recession, Pope Benedict XVI said that a more just and peaceful world requires “adequate mechanisms for the redistribution of wealth.”

The message laments that “some currents of modern culture, built upon rationalist and individualist economic principles, have cut off the concept of justice from its transcendent roots, detaching it from charity and solidarity.”

Authentic education, Benedict writes, teaches the proper use of freedom with “respect for oneself and others, including those whose way of being and living differs greatly from one’s own.”

Fun with excerpts? Of course, Catholic News Service picked up a much different tone coming from the Holy Father:

He asked parents and teachers to be more attentive to the hopes and fears of young people today and to their search for true values, and he asked governments to put more resources into education and job creation.

http://shaunkenney.com/2011/12/pope-benedict-xvi-and-wealth-redistribution/

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"Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth and benefits to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today".

Sweep aside, for the moment, the immorality of the Pope's pleas for more collectivism..more looting of the productive for the sake of the unproductive.

It's the hypocrisy I find most astounding.

Has his Eminence(?) given up the luxurious life style he enjoys...from the silk robes to the chauffeur driven limousine to the servants at his beckon call to the palace he lives in?

Why hasn't he, this self-professed champion of the downtrodden, liquidated the financial / real estate holdings of the Catholic Church and re-redistributed the proceeds to the poor? Now that would go a long way. Why hasn't he placed a "For Sale" sign on the Vatican?

Surely a 2 bedroom apartment would suffice as his residence.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_UN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-09-06-31-28

I am looking forward to see The Fisherman share the wealth of the Church with the poor and wretched folk of the earth.

Ba'al Chatzaf

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I'm anxiously waiting.................. for the "For Sale" sign to be hung on the Vatican door.

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I'm anxiously waiting.................. for the "For Sale" sign to be hung on the Vatican door.

Michael Savage offered $1,000,000.00 as an opening bid for the ceiling of the Cistine Chappel`...lol.

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I'm anxiously waiting.................. for the "For Sale" sign to be hung on the Vatican door.

Michael Savage offered $1,000,000.00 as an opening bid for the ceiling of the Cistine Chappel`...lol.

Was he wanting it to be transported to somewhere else, or just to claim he owned it, or...?

I'm unclear as to how one could buy the ceiling.

The London Bridge was bought, but the whole thing was taken apart, shipped, and re-assembled.

Ellen

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I'm anxiously waiting.................. for the "For Sale" sign to be hung on the Vatican door.

Michael Savage offered $1,000,000.00 as an opening bid for the ceiling of the Cistine Chappel`...lol.

Was he wanting it to be transported to somewhere else, or just to claim he owned it, or...?

I'm unclear as to how one could buy the ceiling.

The London Bridge was bought, but the whole thing was taken apart, shipped, and re-assembled.

Ellen

Nor did I Ellen.

He was expecting it to be outbid by some Arab Shiek and moved en toto to some large amphitheatre in the sand!

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I'd like to have $1 for every cross I saw while in Rome. No kidding.

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"Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth and benefits to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today".

Sweep aside, for the moment, the immorality of the Pope's pleas for more collectivism..more looting of the productive for the sake of the unproductive.

It's the hypocrisy I find most astounding.

Has his Eminence(?) given up the luxurious life style he enjoys...from the silk robes to the chauffeur driven limousine to the servants at his beckon call to the palace he lives in?

Why hasn't he, this self-professed champion of the downtrodden, liquidated the financial / real estate holdings of the Catholic Church and re-redistributed the proceeds to the poor? Now that would go a long way. Why hasn't he placed a "For Sale" sign on the Vatican?

Surely a 2 bedroom apartment would suffice as his residence.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_UN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-09-06-31-28

The hypocrisy isn't just in the fact that the Vatican has wealth which it isn't going to voluntarily redistribute to the poor, but that the Pope's position is one of coveting others' property and of advocating stealing it. Have the ten commandments become null and void? Is it now okay to violate all of the commandments as long as one claims to be doing so in the name of government for the purpose of helping the poor?

J

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Was Jesus a Socialist – Fall 2013 – Clemson Institute

No – Robert P. George

Christian values are consistent with private property, but not laissez-faire capitalism and not individualism regarding others as only means, neglecting inherent value of each person.

Yes, sort of – Ron Sider

Christian value of access to productive resources for all individuals, though state power must be limited, not communism, not economic equality and not great inequality. National government has legitimate role in fighting poverty and seeing to it that all have health care, a minimum wage, and a protected environment. The New Testament supports concern for the poor.

Both the conservative George and the liberal Sider held that government has some legitimate role in improving the lot of the poor. Both were expressly opposed to libertarianism.

Most of the views they expressed about justice and institutions seemed to have no foundation in Christianity when it comes to their specific elaborations. There is a paucity of quotation from the Bible and its story of Jesus, until the Q&A when the virtue of self-sacrifice is brought up, over which George tap dances in connection with giving up one’s possessions to help the poor.

The moderator Brad Thompson prompted them to discuss the political view that Jesus today would favor real socialism, state ownership of means of production. They seemed unable to rebut that idea without resort to entirely practical economic considerations having nothing to do specifically with Christian values. George tried to argue that the principle of private property is a Christian principle, though I imagine Jesus (and many of his simple followers) would be surprised to learn of this.

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"Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth and benefits to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today".

Sweep aside, for the moment, the immorality of the Pope's pleas for more collectivism..more looting of the productive for the sake of the unproductive.

It's the hypocrisy I find most astounding.

Has his Eminence(?) given up the luxurious life style he enjoys...from the silk robes to the chauffeur driven limousine to the servants at his beckon call to the palace he lives in?

Why hasn't he, this self-professed champion of the downtrodden, liquidated the financial / real estate holdings of the Catholic Church and re-redistributed the proceeds to the poor? Now that would go a long way. Why hasn't he placed a "For Sale" sign on the Vatican?

Surely a 2 bedroom apartment would suffice as his residence.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_UN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-09-06-31-28

The hypocrisy isn't just in the fact that the Vatican has wealth which it isn't going to voluntarily redistribute to the poor, but that the Pope's position is one of coveting others' property and of advocating stealing it. Have the ten commandments become null and void? Is it now okay to violate all of the commandments as long as one claims to be doing so in the name of government for the purpose of helping the poor?

J

Agreed.

I'd also throw in envy as well.

J

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Us Capitalists should bring up Popo Leo XIII who in 1891 gave his

RERUM NOVARUM (On Capital and Labor) Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII promulgated on 15 May 1891

1. That the spirit of revolutionary change, which has long been disturbing the nations of the world, should have passed beyond the sphere of politics and made its influence felt in the cognate sphere of practical economics is not surprising. The elements of the conflict now raging are unmistakable, in the vast expansion of industrial pursuits and the marvelous discoveries of science; in the changed relations between masters and workmen; in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals, and the utter poverty of the masses; in the increased self-reliance and closer mutual combination of the working classes; as also, finally, in the prevailing moral degeneracy. The momentous gravity of the state of things now obtaining fills every mind with painful apprehension; wise men are discussing it; practical men are proposing schemes; popular meetings, legislatures, and rulers of nations are all busied with it—actually there is no question which has taken a deeper hold on the public mind.

The discussion is not easy, nor is it void of danger. It is no easy matter to define the relative rights and mutual duties of the rich and of the poor, of capital and of labor. And the danger lies in this, that crafty agitators are intent on making use of these differences of opinion to pervert men's judgments and to stir up the people to revolt.

Now he heats up:

4. To remedy these wrongs the socialists, working on the poor man's envy of the rich, are striving to do away with private property, and contend that individual possessions should become the common property of all, to be administered by the State or by municipal bodies. They hold that by thus transferring property from private individuals to the community, the present mischievous state of things will be set to rights, inasmuch as each citizen will then get his fair share of whatever there is to enjoy. But their contentions are so clearly powerless to end the controversy that were they carried into effect the working man himself would be among the first to suffer. They are, moreover, emphatically unjust, for they would rob the lawful possessor, distort the functions of the State, and create utter confusion in the community.

This is great stuff.

There are sixty-four parts, here is the link:

http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/l13rerum.htm

A...

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Adam,

That's jaw dropping but I'm not surprised, having endured 8 yrs. of Catholic Elementary School, where the teaching (?) was done by aggressive nuns and 1 yr. of Catholic H.S. which had really nasty Brothers doing the brain washing. I managed to convince my parents that I wanted to attend public school, where I could learn the various trades that were taught....stuff I could use.

-Joe

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  • 5 years later...

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