If Michael Moore is to be believed (and on this point, I believe him), Pope Francis reportedly told him that capitalism is a “sin” during a private meeting between the two. Pope Francis has long advocated for numerous left-wing causes (most notably climate change) and railed against economic inequality, so it wouldn’t be a great surprise.
According to Moore, he said, “Do you believe that an economic system that benefits the few, the wealthy at the expense of the many is a sin? And he said to me, ‘Si’ in Italian … And I said, ‘So you believe capitalism, the kinda—the capitalism we have now is a sin?’ He goes, ‘Yes, it is.’ He said, ‘The poor must always come first.’
Did Pope Francis REALLY condemn capitalism?
In fairness, Pope Francis doesn’t appear to be condemning capitalism as a whole in the statement, but rather “capitalism in its current form.” Presumably, Pope Francis would be comfortable with capitalism if it resembled the sort of “capitalist welfare states” we see in Scandinavia, where a capitalist market is allowed a little room, but only with high taxation and wealth redistribution. It’s certainly not my brand of capitalism, but it could be Francis’. Then again, I’m basing all of this speculation on the theory that Michael Moore isn’t misrepresenting that Francis said.
If Pope Francis wants to help the poor, there truly is no better system than capitalism. In just the past two centuries, the percentage of the global population living in extreme poverty has nearly disappeared. Even left-wing Vox admits that extreme poverty declined from over 90% to around 10% today. Poverty may be a problem today – but before capitalism – it was the norm for everyone except a select few.
Not all Catholics on board with Francis’ political pronouncements
Regardless of what Pope Francis’ ideal economic system is, many didn’t take his critique of capitalism well.
I wonder if Pope Francis bothered to let Michael Moore know that Liberaliam is a Sin! https://t.co/Y8UkdEs3Za
— Catholic Patriot (@CaelestiPatria) November 2, 2018
The Pope needs to be quiet, he is an embarrassment to his position..it is a sin to be Michael Moore.
— Jo Faiman❌ (@JoJoFaiman) November 5, 2018
and the @Pontifex believes capitalism is a sin? Well, he seems to think some sins are ok to go unpunished…
— Programmer/Author SQL Server 7: The Complete Ref.. (@Program73697259) November 6, 2018
As a Catholic we only must follow statements which are ex cathedra from Pope. Other than that, political opinions from Pope Francis are just that . I hugely disagree that capitalism is a sin.
— Katherine Trunk (@KatherineTrunk) November 5, 2018
While I’ve always disagreed with Pope Francis’ political statements when it comes to climate change, economics, or illegal immigration, it’s amusing seeing liberals quote Francis as a moral authority on political topics. Why don’t they try asking him his opinion on same sex marriage, abortion, or transgenderism, and then we can see how comfortable liberals feel in quoting Francis as such.
