As much as I truly admire Pope Francis and have been touched deeply by his consistent message of God’s mercy and forgiveness, I am often confused or disappointed by him.
For example, I am afraid that he really believes that the free market system and climate change are the mankind’s two greatest threats.
Not Islam. Not ISL taking territory and beheading people. Not terrorism. Not the Syrian refugees refusing to assimilate into the cultures of the countries which accept them. Not a nuclear Iran. Not the civil wars in Ukraine or Yemen or Libya or Iraq. Not the poverty or lack of electricity or clean water for half of Africa. Not a hundred other things.
Global warming and free market! Honestly?
I’m inclined to believe that his first hand experience of the poverty so widespread among his countrymen in Argentina would lead him to think that socialism is the only acceptable solution available to the poor.
But I agree with others who have criticized the Holy Father for not understanding that it is free market economies which have been the cause of the advancement and betterment of life for billions of people. These same economies have been the source of the enormous wealth the Church has acquired and used to assist the poor and marginalized societies across the globe.
Socialism has done nothing been enslave the poor to a greater dependence upon the State which oftentimes uses its resources to award those who support the government and to punish those who disagree with or wish to reform corrupt political systems.
In the perfect world of my imagining, Pope Francis would confine his remarks to reinforcing my fundamental belief and hope that God is more understanding and forgiving than I could imagine. He would, likewise, cease worrying and speaking about things which he doesn’t really understand and offering solutions I completely disagree with.
Still, you gotta love this Pope for his warmth and concern for God’s People everywhere!
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