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| Pope Francis greets Ban Ki-Moon |
Well, Pope Francis may not be after the nuns, but
he sure keeps himself busy stirring up hornets’ nests. Last week he received the Secretary General
of the United Nations, Doctor Ban Ki-moon along with the executive officers of
the U.N.’s programs, agencies, and funds who were meeting in Rome and paid a
courtesy call on the Holy Father. It is customary for the Pope to give a little
exhortation on such an occasion and Pope Francis did so. It was all rather pro-forma and the Pope really didn’t break any new ground. “Father Z,” the Wizard of the Krazy
Katholic’s Emerald City, said that for the most part it was simply (and I love
this, I really do): “warmed up John Paul II and Benedict XVI.” But Rush Limbaugh, old pill-popper that he is
(or, hopefully by the goodness of God’s grace and 12 steps, was), went thermal
and called the Pope a Marxist (again.)
And the Katholic Krazies on the blogosphere picked up his rant and
formed a virtual reality mob of pitch-fork-carrying, torch-brandishing,
lunatics howling that the Pope wanted to reach into their pockets and take
their hard earned money and give it to the undeserving poor of the world. My old friend Janet over at Restore DC
Catholicism http://restore-dc-catholicism.blogspot.com)
implied that Francis is “naïve,” “simplistic,” and even “moronic” for
advocating socialism. (Janet also refers
to Judas as “the patron saint of Social Justice”—so you know where she is
coming from.) The only problem is that the Holy Father is not advocating
socialism—much less Marxism. The talk,
as Father Z said, is consistent with the Catholic Social teaching of the
previous two popes—and, for that matter, with the magisterium stretching back
through Progressio Popolorum, Gaudium et
Spes, Mater et Magistra, Quadragesimo Anno, and Rerum Novarum. Ol’ Janet can’t figure out why the Holy
Father speaks about “legitimate redistribution of wealth.” Duh.
Maybe to differentiate what he is calling for from the sort of
illegitimate redistribution of wealth represented by the confiscation of
private property such as happened in Marxist societies. The Pope is not calling for individuals to be
deprived of the fruits of their labor, but for new economic and social systems
that will “promote generous, effective, and practical openness to the needs of
others.” He is calling for nothing more
that what was the major theme of John Paul II’s papacy—“solidarity,” the
consciousness among people that we are responsible for and to one another to
insure that each of God’s children has the proper share of this world’s
resources that our Father in heaven wishes them to have. Nowhere does Pope Francis say that the pie
should be cut up in equal shares, or that Peter should be robbed so that Paul
won’t starve. He is just saying that you
and I and Peter all need to be deeply aware that we are responsible for Paul’s
welfare, material as well as spiritual, and that we need to work for a world in
which not a few are wealthy to excess while many lack the basic necessities of
life. The question will come down to
this for the Janets and Rushes of this world: where is your treasure? I am not surprised that Rush walks away from
Jesus like the rich young man in the gospels, but I would have expected more
from Janet and her kindred.
I have only discovered your blog in recent months and I wanted to congratulate you for its quality. I have enjoyed all the entries read so far, and find them informative and touched with humor. I especially love your comments on the Katholic Krazies. I reside in the Diocese of Rochester whose new bishop seems to be one of them, or at least a definite sympathizer. We are chafing under a regime that seems to acknowledge the Code of Canon Law as the only reliable pastoral guide. He is attempting to undo in a matter of months the 33-year legacy of his predecessor. At any rate, kudos to you, whoever you are, for contributing a balanced and erudite commentary on the scene passed and passing.
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