Pope Francis has taken some very left-wing stances on climate change and the economy. Because of this, liberals have been excited to see how Republican Catholic officials will react to the Pope’s visit to the United States. But, Marco Rubio diffused this by reminding people the Pope’s expertise is not on political matters.
On “Special Report,” Marco Rubio told Bret Baier as a Catholic he believes the Pope is infallible on moral and theological issues, but his infallibility doesn’t apply elsewhere.
“As a Catholic, the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, the successor of Peter and the head of the Church,” Rubio said. “And in theological matters, as a Catholic, I believe he pronounces himself from the chair of Peter, which is actually very rare, he is infallible in those decisions in those issues. That doesn’t not extend to political issues like the economy. On moral issues, he speaks with incredible authority and he’s done so consistently on the value of life, on the sanctity of life, on the importance of life and on the family.”
“On economic issues, the Pope is a person,” he said. “And a head of state as the head of the Vatican. And he has opinions about economics. I see in the Pope’s comments a fundamental misunderstanding about the difference between free enterprise and corporatism. In much of Latin America where he is deeply rooted, the word ‘capitalism’ means corporatism, which is the large corporations connected to government, dominate the society and dominate the economy.”
Rubio added that he was disappointed the Pope didn’t meet with Cuban dissidents, instead choosing to meet with Fidel Castro. The Senator stated that perhaps the Pope didn’t take a hard stance against religious suppression as the Church doesn’t want to lose the ground it has gained in the past twenty years.
Do you agree with Marco Rubio that the Pope is not infallible on economic issues? Please comment below.
H/T: Fox News Insider