Caring for the poor doesn't make you a communist, says Pope Francis

What's this Jesuit up to? This is definitely aimed at conservatives and the myth that liberals are all about helping the poor while conservatives are all about helping the rich. The liberals have had their way in America for decades and the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. Look at the 'war on poverty' and LBJ's 'great society'. Trillions have been spent over the fifty year period since the liberals initiated the so called 'war on poverty' and more people are in poverty than ever since then. so who benefited from all those trillions? The money didn't just disappear. There are more rich people now than ever before. Logic tells me that money went to the rich!  

Pope Francis: 'Caring for the poor does not make you a communist'

He made the comments in one of his longest speeches as Pope

KASHMIRA GANDER 

 

 

Thursday 30 October 2014

Pope Francis has once again rejected claims that his concern for the poor and criticisms of capitalism make him a communist, by declaring that he is merely following the Gospel.

In one his longest speeches as Pope, the Holy See outlined his views on a wide range of issues– from poverty and the injustices of unemployment to the need to protect the environment.

"Today I want to unite my voice with yours and accompany you in your fight," he said to participants at the World Meeting of Popular Movements, which is holding a three-day conference in Rome involving groups including trade unions, peasant farmers, and domestic workers.

Among those in the audience were Argentine "cartoneros," who live off the sale of recyclable goods they salvage from rubbish. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was particularly close to the cartoneros; as pope he has maintained his support for their plight. Anticipating how his letter would be received by his critics, Francis declared that “land, housing and work are increasingly unavailable to the majority’ of the world’s population,” but said “If I talk about this, some will think that the Pope is communist.”

"They don't understand that love for the poor is at the centre of the Gospel," he said. "Demanding this isn't unusual, it's the social doctrine of the church."

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His speech also further highlighted his concerns for the environment, as well as the rights of farmers to have land, and for young people to be employed – issues he said would be dealt with in his upcoming encyclical on ecology and the environment.

The address comes after right-wing US commentators said the Pope is a Marxist because he criticised capitalist excess and demanded that governments should redistribute social benefits to the needy.

Earlier this week, the Pope made headlines by declaring that scientific theories were compatible with the Christian belief of the existence of a creator, and said the theories of evolution and the Bing Bang are real.

Experts said the speech put an end to the “pseudo theories” of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor Benedict XVI.

Additional reporting by AP