In line with his papal predecessors, Pope Francis criticized the global financial system and called for it to change saying that the rich, must help the poor. The Pope said the way the current financial system works needs change because of vast income inequalities.
The pope made his remarks in Evangelii Gaudium, (The Joy of the Gospel), a 224-page document that he pulled together from eight months of homilies, speeches and interviews. He also wants to shift the church away from a focus on doctrine to one of “joyful welcome” in an effort to draw secularized people to the church.
In the document, Francis denounced “‘trickle-down economic’ theories as unproven and naive, saying they are based on a survival of the fittest mentality “where the powerful feed upon the powerless” with no regard for ethics, the environment or even God.”
“Money must serve, not rule!” he said. The pope also decried the church’s “obsession” with rules and doctrine and said in some cases, the church’s old customs can be cast aside if they no longer serve to communicate the faith.
All this may sound good and that is its purpose. But the papal appeal for wealth redistribution is really a call to get back to medieval economics, in which the masses are poor and a few rich rule over them.
Wealth redistribution is a favorite papal theme to promote its global acceptance and popularity among the masses, yet the Vatican’s vast riches are not released to the poor in any significant way. The Papacy promotes the idea of a welfare state in which the state supports the poor at the expense of the more wealthy. Promoting wealth transfer, often through social programs, draws attention and support for the Vatican.
“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH… And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” Revelation 17:4, 5, 18