Columns
The Marx of a People’s Pope
In his Christmas message Pope Francis, who heads the Roman Catholic Church and its 1.2 billion followers, remembered “the poor, the hungry, people who are alone, the homeless, the marginalised, the war weary, and especially children.”
The Argentine pontiff elected in March, the first to hail from Latin America, has in a short time made news for his criticism of the capitalist market economic system, accompanied by calls to address social inequality and the need to bridge the gap between the world’s rich and the poor. While the forthrightness of Time magazine’s ‘person of the year’ has ruffled feathers among political conservatives, he is at the same time hailed as ‘the people’s pope’ by more liberally inclined Catholics around the world. He also seems to have won the hearts of some who usually don’t accept the church’s position on controversial social issues like homosexuality and abortion.
Last month a rightwing US talk show host Rush Limbaugh is reported to have criticised Francis for what he called “Pure Marxism” and for going “beyond Catholicism” and being “purely political.” He was referring to the Pope’s first Apostolic Exhortation — a kind of manifesto outlining his vision — where he denounced unfettered capitalism. The Pope said:
“… 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.”
On income distribution he said:
“As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world’s problems or, for that matter, to any problems. Inequality is the root of social ills.”
In an interview with the Italian paper ‘La Stampa’ last week when asked “what does it feel like to be called a Marxist?” Francis said that Marxist ideology is wrong, but that he knew many Marxists who are good people, and so he didn’t feel offended. He insisted he was speaking from the point of view of the church’s doctrine:
“There is nothing in the Exhortation that cannot be found in the social Doctrine of the Church. I wasn’t speaking from a technical point of view, what I was trying to do was to give a picture of what is going on. The only specific quote I used was the one regarding the “trickle-down theories” which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and social inclusiveness in the world. The promise was that when the glass was full, it would overflow, benefitting the poor. But what happens instead, is that when the glass is full, it magically gets bigger and nothing ever comes out for the poor. This was the only reference to a specific theory. I was not, I repeat, speaking from a technical point of view but according to the Church’s social doctrine. This does not mean being a Marxist.”
Speaking of children and hunger in La Stampa’s exclusive pre-Christmas interview he said “With all the food that is left over and thrown away we could feed so many. If we were able to stop wasting and start recycling food, world hunger would diminish greatly. I was struck by one statistic, which says ten thousand children die of hunger each day across the world.”
In an earlier message to mark World Peace Day that the church observes on Jan. 1st the pontiff spoke of the present day economic and financial crisis and conditions that have “pushed man to seek satisfaction, happiness and security in consumption and earnings out of all proportion to the principles of a sound economy.”
Pope Francis shunned ostentation from the time of his election, setting an example by choosing not to reside in the apartments of the Apostolic Palace, instead living more modestly in a Vatican guesthouse. He uses a Ford Focus and not the customary Mercedes. He has indicated he intends to change the way the Vatican is run, and has sought to clean up the scandal-ridden financial institution known as the Vatican bank.
Good humour and openness seem to be traits that have drawn people from all walks of life to this pope, who takes his name from Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. Argentina’s San Lorenzo soccer team visited their ‘number one fan’ on Wednesday to present him with their champion’s trophy and one of the gloves the goalkeeper wore in the decisive match, according to reports.
In an earlier interview with the Catholic publication ‘La Civilta Cattolica’ the pope is reported to have said the church was too obsessed with preaching about abortion, gays and contraception, and needed to become more merciful. On a flight back from Brazil in July, questioned by reporters on the plane as to whether there was a ‘gay lobby’ in the Vatican he replied “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”
It has been pointed out that notwithstanding the news-making statements, the pope has never deviated from the church’s doctrine. He has never endorsed women joining the priesthood and he continues to be outspoken in opposing abortion, for example. In that sense it would appear the change that Pope Francis signals is not one that could be called revolutionary, but rather one of attitude. His vision perhaps heralds a transition from a church that is preachy and judgmental to one that is more caring and humane, but not an establishment that is radically different.