By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Hey guys, just back from my trip to San Francisco and what do I find on my return? Well it looks like that most calcified of religious institutions has gone California, too? The first Pope from South America seems to have veered the church leftward with two recent messages to the faithful that said, in essence, that capitalism isn’t all that. First, in a scathing speech on Wednesday, Pope Francis slammed the type of predatory capitalism that results in the tragedy of the Bangladesh sweatshop collapse. Catering to western desires for cheap but swanky department store clothing, the human mill in Bangladesh cranked out fashion for consumers at a feverish pace. The shortcut to achieve this profit was a thrown-together building constructed of toothpicks and sealing wax. Not really — but close enough for 400 people to die and scores of others to be maimed when the structure fell. Francis took dead aim at the greed and the greedy that caused these deaths calling it “slave labor”:
“Not paying a just (wage), not providing work, focusing exclusively on the balance books, on financial statements, only looking at making personal profit. That goes against God!”
Second, on Thursday, this thoroughly modern pontiff took to social media to hammer the point. Tweeting his message, Pope Francis said “My thoughts turn to all who are unemployed, often as a result of a self-centred mindset bent on profit at any cost.” Two and a half million followers on Twitter and over one billion Catholics got the message. Five thousand of them re-tweeted.
In fairness, both previous Pope Benedict and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have made similar, if half-hearted, appeals for economic fairness but this pontiff from Argentina has put the matter front and center. Francis harkens back to one of the most discredited of regional Catholic movements – liberation theology. This blast from the 60s -70s contended that religion provided a political as well as spiritual path to salvation. It said poverty was the work of sin and that sin was greed and exploitation of the weak and poor by the politically and hence economically powerful. Specifically, catholic clergy throughout Central and South America preached that their faith was to be “an interpretation … through the poor’s suffering, their struggle and hope, and a critique of society and the Catholic faith and Christianity through the eyes of the poor.” The sine qua non was social justice aimed at lifting the poor from their grinding poverty. Predictably, conservative detractors in the Holy See called it “Christianized Marxism” and got their buds at the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (that’s right the once and rightly named Holy Inquisition run by none other than the guy we now call Pope Benedict) to condemn the whole philosophy for portraying the wealthy Catholic leadership in South America as members of the same economic class as the political oppressors of the day. Talk about speaking truth to power … power don’t like it much.
But this Argentine pope, born in a barrio to a father who fled his native Italy to avoid the fascists, could be the worst nightmare for the church’s now dominant right-wing. As someone willing to take on the fight for the poor and oppressed, he stands in stark contrast to the ancien régime who said all the right things about fighting poverty but who did so over tea with some of the world’s most exploitive governments. This pope, who eschewed the trappings of wealth and privilege while a cardinal in Buenos Aries, might actually be willing to get his hands dirty and put boots on the ground in this seemingly unending war. With his actions over the past few days, he has certainly taken on the mantle. If so, the church might be heading for as cataclysmic a schism as the day Martin Luther nailed those 95 theses on the door to All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg.
And Martin Luther is an apt symbol for what is going on here. The 16th century German monk, who railed against the practice of the wealthy purchasing pardons from the
Church to exonerate their sins on earth and grease the skids for their ride to Heaven, may have been more prescient of future events than anyone knew when he wrote:
Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;
Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.
Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.
Source: CNN
Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
ccrider:
I’ve read all the links and all that exists are some opinions about the pope’s testimony and an allegation by one deceased captive refuted by the other live one. You may find that convincing. It wouldn’t pass a motion to dismiss in most courts — including the one sitting at public opinion.
well, prezzy you haven’t figured out that part about: IF you had lost the election that the whirled would be speaking mormon., and you want to promote the people who say that they will put jesus on the cross.
Hmm!
must be this prezzy didn’t know the mormon still prophesy, that this prezzy would be killed.
Hmm!
hey prezzy, did you tell people to reject the one tha’tis written to be, to be rejected.
the antichrists still have knot figured out the proper upwrite position of the cross.
reject the cynical… (hmm)
the sin-i-chall was cyc-tim-mat-h-teak-ly posted.
… take yore time prezzy. you told the people to reject GOD…
mespo:
“Bergoglio told Rubin…” so your evidence is what he told a biographer.
I’m sorry, but that’s far from convincing.
Since I can’t leave links, just click on my name, then go to ‘Background,’ then search on ‘pope.’ I think you’ll find all you need.
Ccrider27:
I think you might need more research or at least a feel for the difference between allegation and proof. There is considerable dispute about the pope’s role in the abduction of the two Jesuit priests in 1976. One of the priests blamed the then cardinal for the junta’s actions but he is no longer alive and we have no factual basis for that allegation. The other survivor says the new pope is not to blame. Yours is hardly a convincing case. Besides I am more interested in 2013 than 1976. Here’s a counterpoint from the associated press:
Both men were freed after Bergoglio took extraordinary, behind-the-scenes action to save them, including persuading dictator Jorge Videla’s family priest to call in sick so that Bergoglio could say Mass in the junta leader’s home, where he privately appealed for mercy. His intervention likely saved their lives, but Bergoglio never shared the details until Rubin interviewed him for the 2010 biography.
Bergoglio told Rubin that he regularly hid people on church property during the dictatorship, and once gave his identity papers to a man with similar features, enabling him to escape across the border. But all this was done in secret, at a time when church leaders publicly endorsed the junta and called on Catholics to restore their “love for country” despite the terror in the streets.
ccrider27, you can only include 2 links in a post, any more and the posting goes to moderation. There is no moderator so……..
ccrider27: “….Remember this pope is still anti-women, anti-abortion in all cases and does not believe women have any place in leadership within the church.”
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There is no indication that statement is incorrect and that is just another opportunity missed.
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Bron: “you guys are quick to condemn capitalism….”
If I had gotten back to this thread earlier I’d have replied that it is unrestrained capitalism that is objectionable but Gene beat me to it and said it better. The rest of your statement we are in agreement on.
…reposting without the links…
Mr. Esposito,
I think you’re going to have to do a little better research next time. In fact this account of Pope is so flawed as to beg retraction.
Basing such a glowing article about him based on one (very politically correct) speech and one tweet is a little premature, wouldn’t you say?
Your account of what liberation theology is accurate, but this pope is hardly of that persuasion. In fact he was directly implicated in the abduction and subsequent torture of at least 2 specific liberation theology Jesuit priests during Argentina’s dirty war, 1976-1983. And he has been indirectly associated with cooperation with the military regime that abducted, raped, tortured and murdered thousands of Argentinians. Available evidence strongly indicates that he passed the names of many liberation theologian priests to the military junta and he refuses to come clean about it.
He has been called to testify in court 3 times regarding the specific cases. He refused to testify the first two times and when he was finally forced to do so, his testimony was extremely evasive at best.
And it’s not like there is very little information regarding this period of his life.
There are plenty of references for these facts on the web and in the press. I tried to post some links, but apparently this blog won’t allow links to external sites. I can certainly provide them upon request.
Remember this pope is still anti-women, anti-abortion in all cases and does not believe women have any place in leadership within the church.
Yes he preaches in the street, but his philosophy is extremely conservative and right wing.
The Catholic Church has a long (and probably impossible) road ahead if it wants to wash its hands of past misdeeds. The first step might be to release every smidgen of evidence that it has been concealing regarding all cases of child molestation to the respective police departments with jurisdictional authority.
This pope is not about to do any of that.
Now, that is one bit of uplifting news I’ve read about Catholics and their new pope. I am not jumping up and down just yet. As a woman, I’m not holding my breath that the new Chief will embrace me and other women who believe in the right to access family planning and opportunities equal to men, whether that is within the church’s hierarchy or the world outside the church.
It remains unlikely this pope will be able to save the RCC from extinction. Too much is known. Wherever the scandal touches, bankruptcy follows.What this pope or any self-styled “leader” of this corrupt institution has to say about any matter belongs only to history.
So we have a terrible case of Good Message, Incredible Messenger. In 2013, we no longer need messengers. The dangers of fixating on any one delivery service for messages are manifest.
greed /griːd/, n.,
:intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food:
Contrast with . . .
venal /ˈviːn(ə)l/, adj.,
:showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery; corrupt:
The line is razor thin, Bron, and greed is the precursor of venal. Greed must be constrained. What you describe in Madoff and the factory owner is not altruism either. What was done was pure selfishness. Their “sacrifice” is not a sacrifice done with a cost only or primarily to themselves for the benefit of others. It’s a consequence of their greed – which primarily benefited them and was selfishly motivated by their benefit at the exclusion and/or harm to others – run amok and resulting in the deaths and defrauding other people. They benefited until their greed cost people their money and/or their lives. Had they been altruistic in the non-Randian sense of the word, Madoff would have never stolen and the factory owner would have sacrificed his profits to provide a safe work environment. They were selfish, not altruistic.
Selfishness is most certainly not a virtue.
Speaking of amok, if you’ll pardon me, my iced tea finished I’m back to that yard work mandated by two straight days of rain late last week.
Gene H:
Was the owner of this enterprise greedy? I would say no, if he had been greedy, meaning to amass huge amounts of wealth, he would have made sure his building was in good repair and his people were happy in their work.
All he was was venal. He cared nothing for himself nor for his employees. Just as Bernie Madoff cared for no one, not even himself. Bernie Madoff was not greedy, he was selfless as was the owner of the factory. In the end they have sacrificed their lives for nothing. Madoff is in jail for life, his family is broke, his son is dead. The owner of the factory is going to jail and will end up broke when he pays the civil claims.
That is not greed, that is altruism in its purest form. The sacrifice of self for nothing is apparent for all to see.
A man of self respect does not throw his life away for nothing, a man with no self respect does so willingly. A man with self respect treats others with respect, a man with no self respect, respects no one.
Jesuit colleges and universities welcome in students and faculty of all faiths. If you are not a catolic and your offspring is considering a Jesuit school do not demean it just because it is catolic. Georgetown is great. Saint Louis University in the midwest is great. Georgetown Law School is one of the best and I would choose it over Harvard and Yale et al simply because it is in DC. Back on topic. This Pope will be a good change. The catolics were slipping into the Dark Ages and I am not speaking about the movie industry before color. The times they are a changin. Keep the faith and if you cant keep the faith, keep the change in the plate as it passes.
Jesuits are on a higher plane. When he flew over to Rome on the plane it probably came to him in a high altitude moment that he could make some changes down there in the world.
Bron,
The general objection in this forum isn’t to capitalism but rather to it’s extremist form of laissez-faire capitalism. Greed is not good when let off the leash. Greed is stupid and Pyrrhic.
LK,
Yep. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.
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nick sez “Jesuits teach you HOW to think, not WHAT to think. That was a point often made by the character Frank Pemberton”.
On this, you, me and Frank are in agreement.
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And good job, Mark. I’m also glad you had a good time in one of my favorite cities in the world. However, it has been my experience that it is almost impossible to have a bad time in San Francisco. Tony Bennett left his heart there for good reason.
Bron 1, May 5, 2013 at 10:13 am
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Only time Catholics are praised is when they start talking about spreading the wealth
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This Pope has not started that yet.
Mark pointed out in his post that the Pope is talking about stopping the plunder of the poor and middle class, the 99%.
The plunder barons are the ones plundering the 99% and spreading their wealth among themselves, the 1%.
Plunder capitalism.
LOTTAKATZ:
that is my point, you guys are quick to condemn capitalism but I condemn the horrible loss of life as well and would not want to knowingly contribute to an enterprise of this nature. It is one thing to make a profit, it is quite another to do so with total disregard for the safety of the people who are employed by you.
If you knowingly disregard worker safety or public safety in the day to day activities of your business you are an immoral actor. I recognize that human immorality has no monopoly on a particular political ideology.
Just because Bernie Madoff gave almost 90% of his campaign contributions to democrats doesnt mean all democrats are involved in Ponzi schemes.
Arthur Randolph Erb 1, May 5, 2013 at 11:27 am
Sorry Dredd, i missed the d at the end of a word. I knew that they had repudiated slavery and segregation, but it is scant comfort to know that they took over a century and a half to do so. They are bigots still and act on that bigotry, and thus they deserve nothing but scorn and contempt by honest people.
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I wondered about that very thing! (the missing “d”)
They had to give the biggest apology after all that time, as you pointed out.
They purport to be heading away from a lot of the bigotry:
(Wikipedia, Southern Baptist Convention). Since they live in a habitual world, it is difficult to get to any new “place” anytime soon.
Like the Pope and many in the Catholic Church members Mark posted about today.
Dredd, The disparity in political power the fundamentalist Christians hold in the Congress versus the opinions of the majority of citizens in this country is a big part of the political schism you correctly allude to above. It’s a real problem.
Bron: “Only time Catholics are praised is when they start talking about spreading the wealth.”
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Lol, it’s liberation theology or child rape and how dirty the last Pope’s hands were on that front. After 5-6 years of non-stop news on the pedophilia scandal and cover-up I’d think any other news and discussion points would be welcome.
I, like Mike S would welcome a return to the social activism of the Church in the 60’s. That it was practiced in opposition to the wishes of Rome says a lot about Rome. Same for helping Salvadoran refugee’s get into the country while our government was helping their government slaughter their own by the thousands. That was real, working Christianity. At least though the Church condemned the ‘Kill the Gays’ bill in Uganda. I wasn’t a Catholic very long but I miss that in the Church.
I am hopeful that Pope Francis can make headway and return the Catholic Church to the time when it stood for social issues and for the common man. It won’t be easy for Pope Francis as his predecessor is still giving him troubles.