Vatican to Issue Radical Document on Economy By Fr. Tom Reese, S.J.

[salvorhardin]

While I'm the last person to recommend following religious authority, let's give credit where credit is due. The Pope and the Vatican are calling for policies significantly to the left of *every* major U.S. politician (although I'd like to see Bernie Sanders' take on this). There are a lot of Catholics worldwide, and they make up about 22% of the U.S. population. It'll be interesting to see what kind of social and political effects might result from this.

On Monday, the Vatican will release a document on the reform of the international financial system which will be to the left of every politician in the United States. It will be closer to views of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement than anyone in the U.S. Congress. It will call for the redistribution of wealth and the regulation of the world economy by international agencies. Not only will it be to the left of Barack Obama, it will be to the left of Nancy Pelosi.

It is easy to predict what will be in the document by simply looking at what Pope Benedict XVI has said in the past. In his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth). Pope Benedict’s encyclical calls for a radical rethinking of economics so that it is guided not simply by profits but by “an ethics which is people-centered.”

Profit is not an end in itself but a means toward the common good. “Once profit becomes the exclusive goal,” he writes, “if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty.” That certainly proved true by the economic greed and reluctance that caused the recent recession.

The Pope decries “Corruption and illegality” that are evident in the economic and political classes in both rich and poor countries. He also says that “Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity, so as not to abuse the sophisticated instruments which can serve to betray the interests of savers.”
Source: http://www.news.va/en/news/full-text-note-on-financial-reform-from-the-pontif

Note: The document was released today. You can read the full text here: http://www.news.va/en/news/full-text-note-on-financial-reform-from-the-pontif

[OneGrassRoot]

1. I find this fascinating...

While I agree with your intro paragraph, I find it fascinating that he is willing to "go there," knowing that there will be cries for The Church to look in the mirror at their own exorbitant wealth and holdings.

Talk about opening a can of worms, but I'm all for it.

:thumbsup:

[salvorhardin]

4. Good point about the Vatican's own hordes of gold (figurative speaking) eom

[beam me up scottie]

2. Are they doing it because it's the right thing to do?

Or because they're that terrified of extinction?

Kudos if they go through with it.

K&R

Hiya, Sal! :hug:

[salvorhardin]

3. Do we care?

Bless the Pope's little black heart, if it results in positive change! :D

BMUS! Good to see you. :pals:

[beam me up scottie]

5. Hell no!

Not if it happens. Hopefully the next Pope will be even more liberal.


Whoa.

Did I just call the Pope liberal?

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. Differs not a whit...

...from the Church's position for several generations at least, back to Rerum Novarum anyways. Certainly it differs little from the American bishops'1986 pastoral letter 'Economic Justice for All'

There's no tradition of the prosperity gospel, or the perverted Calvinism that drives a lot of modern American religious 'thinking' on economics, in Catholic circles.

[beam me up scottie]

7. I was wondering if they were going to open up the vaults and sell their treasures to help the poor.

Is this hypocrisy or will they actually put their own money where their collective mouth is?

Don't mean to make light of your point, I appreciate the info. I'm just a pessimist.

[salvorhardin]

8. And yet...

And yet that "perverted Calvinism"* evolved into the Social Gospel, and if it weren't for all Social Gospel, new religious movements (e.g. Theosophy, Oneida Colony, etc.) and occultists that arose in the 2nd Great Awakening, we'd have naught progressive populist politics in the U.S.

*I'm not defending Calvinism, and I certainly agree the Prosperity Gospel has done a hella lotta damage. I'm just saying all religions are ever evolving, until they don't -- and then they die.