The Pope says he ain’t no Commie, but he likes them just fine. But that is not all, he also says that when it comes to economics, he is no expert.
Pope Francis said he knew a lot of “good” Marxists but was no communist himself, following criticism of his diatribes against unfettered capitalism from conservative commentators in the United States.
“Marxist ideology is wrong. But in my life I have met a lot of Marxists who are good people, so I do not feel offended,” Francis said in an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa published on Sunday.
He said his condemnations of the inequality caused by the current global economic system were not intended to be an expert analysis and were only a reiteration of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church.
“That does not mean being a Marxist,” he said.
Francis is himself a moderate conservative and was a fierce critic of the leftist-inspired Liberation Theology movement in Latin America, although he has recently appeared to reconcile with its leaders.
The problem is, when you take digs at ‘trickle-down theories’ and such, when you rail against ‘income equality’ instead of poverty, the “I am am just reiterating Catholic social doctrine’ thing doesn’t hold water. If he really just reiterated Catholic social doctrine, he wouldn’t be answering questions about being a commie. I think the Pope wastes a great opportunity and diminishes his moral authority in the eyes of the world when he says things so far afield.
Anyway, good to know that the Pope thinks Marxism is wrong.
