Pope rattles rich Catholics, clergy

It must be tough to be a good Catholic today with a Pope that insists on the substance of Christianity rather than its forms and traditions. Last week, Pope Francis took off his gloves and punched his message right through the thick wall of hypocrisy separating the Gospel message of Jesus Christ and what has largely become of the Catholic Church today.

Pope Francis wrote a 217-page document, “Evangelii Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel), which was a one-two jab on the Church and the economic system. The Pope called for big changes in the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope said the church needs to rethink rules and customs that are no longer widely understood or effective for evangelizing.

The Pope also attacked “shameful wealth”. Pope Francis called capitalism the “new tyranny” and he slammed trickle-down economics as a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power.

“Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful fed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.”

I didn’t catch this in the document itself but CNN reports Pope Francis faulted the Catholic Church for its negative obsession with gays and birth control, possibly in another occasion. CNN reports “the Pope also hinted that he wants to see an end to the so-called ‘wafer wars,’ in which Catholic politicians who support abortion rights are denied Holy Communion.” Pope Francis said the doors of the sacraments should not be closed for simply any reason.

“The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”

The Pope is also calling for a new kind of Catholicism. “We must recognize that if part of our baptized people lack a sense of belonging to the Church, this is also due to certain structures and the occasionally unwelcoming atmosphere of some of our parishes and communities, or to a bureaucratic way of dealing with problems, be they simple or complex, in the lives of our people. In many places an administrative approach prevails over a pastoral approach, as does a concentration on administering the sacraments apart from other forms of evangelization.”

CNN called the Pope’s “apostolic exhortation,” as part mission statement, part pep talk for the world’s 1.5 billion Catholics. The bold language and sweeping call for change are likely to surprise even those who’ve grown accustomed to his unconventional papacy, CNN observed.

“Not everyone will like this document,” the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author in New York told CNN. “For it poses a fierce challenge to the status quo.”

Released last week, the Pope’s “Evangelii Gaudium” pointed out that “the Church can also come to see that certain customs not directly connected to the heart of the Gospel, even some which have deep historical roots, are no longer properly understood and appreciated.

“Some of these customs may be beautiful, but they no longer serve as means of communicating the Gospel. We should not be afraid to re-examine them. At the same time, the Church has rules or precepts which may have been quite effective in their time, but no longer have the same usefulness for directing and shaping people’s lives.”

But on abortion, Pope Francis reiterated the church’s stand.  â€œPrecisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of the human person, the Church cannot be expected to change her position on this question,” Pope Francis said.

An article in The Guardian commented that “Pope Francis is a pontiff who has constructively broken all the rules of popery – so far to widespread acclaim.”  

The Pope has denounced what he calls the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The Pope took note of the negative impact of today’s economic system because of its basic lack of real concern for human beings. The existing financial system that fuels the unequal distribution of wealth and violence must be changed, the Pope warned.

“Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.”

I am sure many in our perfumed and manicured elite who consider themselves devout Catholics, proud of their Opus Dei memberships, will be shaking their heads in disbelief on the Pope’s negative view of  so called free-market capitalists. But, as The Guardian article points out, Pope Francis merely “gives form to the emotion and injustice of post-financial-crisis outrage in a way that has been rare since Occupy Wall Street disbanded.”

Continues The Guardian: “The bottom line, which Pope Francis correctly identifies, is that inequality is the biggest economic issue of our time – for everyone, not just the poor.”

Says the Pope: “We can no longer trust in the unseen forces and the invisible hand of the market. Growth in justice requires more than economic growth, while presupposing such growth: it requires decisions, programs, mechanisms and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality.

“I am far from proposing an irresponsible populism, but the economy can no longer turn to remedies that are a new poison, such as attempting to increase profits by reducing the work force and thereby adding to the ranks of the excluded.”

Most Popes, The Guardian observed, “have been largely content to leave these particular issues of economic inequality behind in favor of focusing on social issues. There was, after all, a problem of throwing stones. The church’s rich trappings and vast wealth, as well as its scandal-plagued Vatican bank, made an ill fit to preach too loudly about austerity.

“Pope Francis, in his simple black shoes and unassuming car and house, is the first pontiff in a long time to reject flashy shows of power and live by the principle of simplicity. That makes him uniquely qualified to make the Vatican an outpost of Occupy Wall Street.”

The Pope is asking: how can countries function, or realize their full economic potential, if they are weighed down by the debts of capitalism? “To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which has taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits.”

Pope Francis asks for better politicians to heal the scars capitalism made on society. “I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor,” Pope Francis wrote.

In an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron on the eve of the G-8 Summit, Pope Francis said money should “serve” humanity, not lead it.

“The goal of economics and politics is to serve humanity, beginning with the poorest and most vulnerable wherever they may be, even in their mothers’ wombs. Every economic and political theory or action must set about providing each inhabitant of the planet with the minimum wherewithal to live in dignity and freedom, with the possibility of supporting a family, educating children, praising God and developing one’s own human potential.”

 I never thought I would live to see the day we could have a Pope like Pope Francis. Indeed, the Holy Spirit guided the election of this Pope at such a time as this and in marked contrast to his predecessor.

I am dying to see how the local clergy, the bishops and pretentious archbishops are reacting to this Pope. There are Archbishops’ Palaces all over the country. I am sure Pope Francis would frown on such ostentatious display of Church luxury. He refused to stay in one such Palace back in Buenos Aires.

I am curious to find out how some of our biggest taipans who pretend to be devout Catholics but exploit their workers to earn their billions, feel about being Catholic under this Pope. You can’t be a good Catholic with this Pope and limit your labor force of lowly sales ladies and janitors to contracts of no more than six months at a time.

The test of the pudding is in the eating. Hopefully the Church does not choke on the words of this Pope because Pope Francis is just bringing the Church back to its roots in the Gospel. Everything else, the indulgences included, is religious fluff.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco