Pope Francis' doctrinal statements on economics criticizes both socialism and capitalism

Numerous Catholic Magisterial cherry-pickers exists. One exemplary example is the neo-con Catholic-Liberal, George Weigel, erstwhile disciple of Fr. Courtney Murray et al. It  may well be advisable for readers to recall a few fact pertaining to continuity vis-a-vis Catholic social teaching on economics, when read Evangelii Gaudium.

From the Distributist Review:

George Weigel’s recent syndicated article (“The Enduring Importance of Centesimus Annus,” June 22, 2011) attempts to reconcile Catholic Social Teaching with his free-market opinions by praising Centesimus Annus as a departure from the social patrimony of the Church, which began with Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum.

But Mr. Weigel’s conclusions clearly contradict the very encyclical he lauds.

Weigel’s insistence that Pope John Paul II’s encyclical embraces, “[the] free market of the liberal democracies” is nowhere to be found in the text. The “free market,” a self-regulating system determining prices, wages, interest rates, and so forth, with little or no interference by government, is the same economy described as shooting from “a polluted spring” by Pius XI in Quadragesimo Anno and “radical capitalistic ideology” by Pope John Paul II in Centesimus Annus:

“… there is a risk that a radical capitalistic ideology could spread which refuses even to consider these problems, in the a priori belief that any attempt to solve them is doomed to failure, and which blindly entrusts their solution to the free development of market forces.” (Centesimus Annus, no. 42, emphasis mine.)

Described by Pius XI as, “that economic system in which were provided by different people the capital and labor jointly needed for production,” capitalism in toto never found endorsement in the entire social compendium, let alone free-market capitalism. Quite the opposite, Pope Pius XI’s weighty criticism of capitalism as the “individualist economic teaching” which spread the error of “direct[ing] economic life” by the “free competition of forces,” is arguably just as condemning of capitalism as it is of socialism.

The full article may be read here. 

Fr. Girouard expelled from the SSPX

Fr/ Patrick Girouard has been formally expelled from the SSPX by Superior General. As I wrote a few weeks ago, the SSPX continues to implode. 

What about my situation with the Neo-SSPX? In mid-October I received my second and last Canonical Monition from Fr. Wegner, but it failed to change me into a “softie”, and I didn’t bother to answer it. On Monday, feast of the great martyr St. Catherine, I received, by registered and priority mail, an envelope with beautiful Swiss stamps! Yes, it was from Menzingen! From His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay himself! A letter in French, with a title in big fonts and capitals: DECREE OF EXPULSION OF REV. FATHER PATRICK GIROUARD. Yes, my dear readers, another head has rolled off the Menzingen guillotine: Mine! I will give you the full text in a later edition, but the words are pretty clear: I have been expelled!


Oh, what a tangled web we weave....

Self-styled commentators on the Papal Apostolic Exhortation obsess with Capitalism, while ignoring societal moral collapse

 "...there resides in Us the right and duty to pronounce with supreme authority upon social and economic matters" 

Pope Pius XI 

Pope Francis brings the hammer down on Liberalist innovators, reiterating
the Magisterial teachings on economics by Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI

It is fascinating to watch various capitalist media outfits (such as the preposterous The Atlantic's attack on the Pope - with the accompanying "sinister" photo of the Pope to prove what a crypto-communist he is!), as well as being joined by a noisy crowd of dissenting neo-con clerics performing mental and verbal handstands in their attempts to interpret and twist the papal statements on so-called trickle-down economics. Consider the article from First Things, and substitute "contraception" for "economics" and you get the subjectivist picture. Think of the evasive Winnipeg Statement as you read it.  Some will think: how can you compare sexual ethics to economic ethics! Precisely my point. The Faith, the Magisterium, Authority is reduced to immanentist subjectivist relativism: this is social modernism in all its ugliness.

These neo-social modernists inform us the problem is the Pope's "statist" mentality; he is affected by "Peronism" etc. Capitalists forget that the Popes denounced social modernism as rigorously as dogmatic modernism. They forget that the voice of the Church has spoken authoritatively on the heresy of Liberalism: be it dogmatic, social, or economic. Capitalism is a by-product of Liberalist political economic theory, and the Church can do no other than to denounce this evil of false liberty. It is no coincidence that these same capitalist-Liberalists glory in the false theory of separation of Church and State. How could they not, since they reject economic policy being subservient to morality; and, by extension, the Church being the sole arbiter of morality (c.f. Immortale Dei)?

This mania for talking money certainly proves Pope Francis' point that we have a serious problem with the idolatry of same. These neo-con Catholic capitalist-Liberalists forget that the Church's criticism of communism was on moral grounds. 

We need to realize that capitalism and socialism are not so much merely economic systems but, ideologies - in essence forms of  "religions" - and that assorted neo-con and champagne-socialist clerics are both  engaging in apostasy (being social modernists) of the worst sort. Within this context, carefully reasoned arguments will not work because we are attacking the "dogma" of capitalism (or, socialism). Within the context of His Holiness' Apostolic Exhortation, neo-con Catholics (liberalists) should try a little harder to re-read the mind of the Church. Conversion is the only way, a change of heart - just consider the evasiveness and obfuscation from the above linked First Things article. Consider the mind-boggling distortions that a George Weigel is capable of; to masquerade as "orthodox", yet be a social modernist - of the "right kind" of course, so as to maintain his "conservative" credentials. Such a man would be rightly silenced during the reign of earlier Popes (c.f. Ubi Arcano, Pius XI). 

For the purposes of this post, lest there be any doubt, I shall quote exclusively from that great Pope, Pius XI (no doubt, dependent from which perspective you view him, either was a crypto-communist or a crypto-fascist) to demonstrate that the mind of the Church has not changed.  

"...it is, nevertheless, an error to say that the economic and moral orders are so distinct from and alien to each other that the former depends in no way on the latter".  Pius XI

The Catholic Church has always - read the Popes!  - strongly criticized economic forms that debase man and lead to moral decay. 

"Free competition, while justified and certainly useful provided it is kept within certain limits, clearly cannot direct economic life -- a truth which the outcome of the application in practice of the tenets of this evil individualistic spirit has more than sufficiently demonstrated". Pius XI


The Church has always, and will continue to oppose powerful, international money lenders, their lackeys, and the bitter and evil fruits they produce. The Church is opposed to Socialism, and She is also a critic of Capitalism - the product of such theorists as not only the protestant, Smith, but the Jew, Ricardo. In other words, Capitalism is not Catholic. 

"Accordingly, twin rocks of shipwreck must be carefully avoided. For, as one is wrecked upon, or comes close to, what is known as "individualism" by denying or minimizing the social and public character of the right of property, so by rejecting or minimizing the private and individual character of this same right, one inevitably runs into "collectivism" or at least closely approaches its tenets". Pius XI 

Unless this is kept in mind, one is swept from his course upon the shoals of that moral, juridical, and social modernism which We denounced in the Encyclical issued at the beginning of Our Pontificate". Pius XI

The Church values quality over quantity - capitalism values quantity, it reduces the human person to quantification. The Middle Ages were the high water mark of civilization: the powerful guilds though expressing free enterprise, certainly did not reflect capitalism. That cynical scoundrel, Henry VIII, perhaps an early proto-capitalist "baron", put to good use capitalist theory: he, along with his henchmen stole the Church's wealth, impoverished the average Englishman, debased the value of money ("coppernose" Henry), culturally debased the nation--- all activities we are accustomed to seeing committed by voracious contemporary capitalists. 

"an immense power and despotic economic dictatorship is consolidated in the hands of a few..." Pius XI 

As to a critique of socialism - none is needed. Just read the history of Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany (yes, the Nazis were socialists) or Red China.... But the myth that capitalism is some sort of panacea needs to be exposed for the lie it is. 

All of this raises a very good question: where are the priestly rants against immorality, where are the numerous commentaries against familial collapse.....why are neo-con Catholic Liberalists uncomfortably squirming when the Pope denounces social injustice and capitalist oppression? Have they lost the Faith? 

Sadly, too many churchmen just want to talk politics, not religion. If we talked more religion - indeed, actually "lived" religion, the economy would correct itself. Interestingly, the Liberalists clerics not only do they get their economics wrong, but they are also acting as gravediggers of the Church, by ignoring the moral collapse about them. They join hands with the legions of dogmatic neo-modernists Liberalists in attacking our Pope, the Faith, the Magisterium and Apostolic Authority, and in doing so, they do the devil's work. 

"Free competition has destroyed itself; economic dictatorship has supplanted the free market; unbridled ambition for power has likewise succeeded greed for gain; all economic life has become tragically hard, inexorable, and cruel". Pius XI 

This spirit of evil individualism is not isolated to economics, it pervades all of life. It is any wonder that contraception and abortion are so popular in capitalist and socialist economies? Both debase the human person, reducing him or her to a unit, a pawn in the hands of the powerful. 

What is the solution? Let us listen to the words of Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski (The Deeds of Faith, Harper and Row, 1966 p. 68):


Let no one tell you that the crisis of the modern world is a crisis of culture or economics or political organization.These are no more than autumn leaves falling from trees, to be swept away by the winds...We do not need a new civilization, new morals, new economics, new political and social systems. We need new love, new reverence for others, new freedom. 

When I look at the history of social and economic theories, I can no longer agree with the traditional division between capitalism and collectivism. It seems to me there is little to choose between them. The proletariat is still not free. It was set free only once - on the Cross. All that has happened since shows that man does not enjoy the respect of his fellow men. He is still a slave, whether of the State or of wealth. And the shackles are as heavy in either case. The problem needs to be stated clearly: it is the problem of the free man versus the slave. The future belongs to those who can give freedom, inner freedom. We know who did this most effectively - the Father of the world to come, Jesus Christ. And we, his servants, what do we do? 

Sometimes we become deeply involved in inner problems and undertakings. But one chapter of scripture, read with understanding, can give more to the world than the most sophisticated political discourse. Let it therefore be our mission, to preach the word like the Apostles, and to do good among our brothers who are thirsting for love. Let us serve! Let us dare, like John XXIII, to kneel before our brothers and humbly kiss their feet. 


Recommended Reading: Ubi Arcano 
                                           Quadragesimo Anno  

Latin Mass Community under threat from the Archdiocese of Boston

Reports coming out of the Archdiocese of Boston do not bode well for the future of a stable parish community that is offered the sacraments according to the usus antiquior. As most Catholics are aware, or should be, parish community life is essential to the building up and keeping of the faith. We attend Mass to go out and live the Mass. The Mass should be integral to our life outside of church. 

With the various evil forces bearing down on Catholics, it is essential that Catholics be provided the opportunity to belong to vibrant parish - with a strong pastoral plan - lest (e.g.) the youth (as is so often the tragic case) of the parish be easily seduced by the world, the flesh and the devil.  

Spiritual life is not built in isolation - this is a lesson that seems to have been learnt well by such diverse religious communities such as the Mennonites and ultra-Orthodox Jewry. As such, the report from Boston is deeply disturbing.  

From the Boston Catholic Insider: 

As implementation of the new Pastoral Plan in the Boston Archdiocese progresses, complaints continue to come in about problems with the plan.  The latest comes from the Latin Mass Community at Mary Immaculate of Lourdes–the only church where the Latin Mass is celebrated daily and weekly–which is currently under a threat of being disbanded by the Boston Archdiocese.

As background, in March 2007, the Boston Archdiocese announced that the Traditional Mass held at Holy Trinity in Boston was being moved to Mary Immaculate of Lourdes in Newton Upper Falls, effective April 22, 2007.  Holy Trinity was subsequently closed and relegated to profane use.  Someone familiar with the situation shared the following background with us:

“The ability to formally join the parish was especially important for those who had come to Mary Immaculate from the Latin Mass Community at Holy Trinity in Boston.  The Archdiocese had considered these people a movable apostolate which could be moved from Holy Trinity to facilitate its closure.  To lure them to Mary Immaculate, they promised a pastor favorable to the Extraordinary Form (Fr Charles J. Higgins ’88 ) and parishioner status so they could not be easily moved.

To read more.

Pope Francis on the crisis in the Family

Further words of wisdom from our Holy Father from Evangelii Gaudium. Note the sense of urgency.... notice the identification of the family as the transmitter of the faith; of marriage being undermined at its essence...

66. The family is experiencing a profound cultural crisis, as are all communities and social bonds. In the case of the family, the weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children. Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. But the indispensible contribution of marriage to society transcends the feelings and momentary needs of the couple. As the French bishops have taught, it is not born “of loving sentiment, ephemeral by definition, but from the depth of the obligation assumed by the spouses who accept to enter a total communion of life”.[60]


67. The individualism of our postmodern and globalized era favours a lifestyle which weakens the development and stability of personal relationships and distorts family bonds. Pastoral activity needs to bring out more clearly the fact that our relationship with the Father demands and encourages a communion which heals, promotes and reinforces interpersonal bonds. In our world, especially in some countries, different forms of war and conflict are re-emerging, yet we Christians remain steadfast in our intention to respect others, to heal wounds, to build bridges, to strengthen relationships and to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2). Today too, various associations for the defence of rights and the pursuit of noble goals are being founded. This is a sign of the desire of many people to contribute to social and cultural progress.

Apostolic Exhortation EVANGELII GAUDIUM

The Pope has released an apostolic exhortation which can be found in its entirety here. No doubt this will make people mad for a variety of reasons. Progressives are talking about his firm stand against women priests and any relaxation of his stand against their favorite sins. Conservatives may also have reason to feel uneasy as he speaks out against spiritual worldliness and infighting amongst Catholics. Press reaction to the exhortation has been mixed. The National Catholic Register hails it as a guide to Christian outreach. The Washington Post concentrates on his denunciation of trickle down economic theories and his critique of capitalism. The BBC on the other hand headlines possible changes to power dynamics at the Vatican with decentralization. Here are some excerpts that struck me as I scanned the document. Go read it for yourself. EVANGELII GAUDIUM

Get it while it's hot. Someone is offering the exhortation in popular reader formats here. Last time this happened it didn't last long so jump on it.

94. This worldliness can be fuelled in two deeply interrelated ways. One is the attraction of gnosticism, a purely subjective faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set of ideas and bits of information which are meant to console and enlighten, but which ultimately keep one imprisoned in his or her own thoughts and feelings. The other is the self-absorbed promethean neopelagianism of those who ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past. A supposed soundness of doctrine or discipline leads instead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism, whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others, and instead of opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in inspecting and verifying. In neither case is one really concerned about Jesus Christ or others. These are manifestations of an anthropocentric immanentism. It is impossible to think that a genuine evangelizing thrust could emerge from these adulterated forms of Christianity.

96. This way of thinking also feeds the vainglory of those who are content to have a modicum of power and would rather be the general of a defeated army than a mere private in a unit which continues to fight. How often we dream up vast apostolic projects, meticulously planned, just like defeated generals! But this is to deny our history as a Church, which is glorious precisely because it is a history of sacrifice, of hopes and daily struggles, of lives spent in service and fidelity to work, tiring as it may be, for all work is “the sweat of our brow”. Instead, we waste time talking about “what needs to be done” – in Spanish we call this the sin of “habriaqueísmo” – like spiritual masters and pastoral experts who give instructions from on high. We indulge in endless fantasies and we lose contact with the real lives and difficulties of our people.

97. Those who have fallen into this worldliness look on from above and afar, they reject the prophecy of their brothers and sisters, they discredit those who raise questions, they constantly point out the mistakes of others and they are obsessed by appearances. Their hearts are open only to the limited horizon of their own immanence and interests, and as a consequence they neither learn from their sins nor are they genuinely open to forgiveness. This is a tremendous corruption disguised as a good. We need to avoid it by making the Church constantly go out from herself, keeping her mission focused on Jesus Christ, and her commitment to the poor. God save us from a worldly Church with superficial spiritual and pastoral trappings! This stifling worldliness can only be healed by breathing in the pure air of the Holy Spirit who frees us from self-centredness cloaked in an outward religiosity bereft of God. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the Gospel!

98. How many wars take place within the people of God and in our different communities! In our neighbourhoods and in the workplace, how many wars are caused by envy and jealousy, even among Christians! Spiritual worldliness leads some Christians to war with other Christians who stand in the way of their quest for power, prestige, pleasure and economic security. Some are even no longer content to live as part of the greater Church community but stoke a spirit of exclusivity, creating an “inner circle”. Instead of belonging to the whole Church in all its rich variety, they belong to this or that group which thinks itself different or special.

Audiobooks for People With Catholic Tastes

I was just sitting here enjoying my morning coffee along with one of my other pleasures, looking for new audiobooks, when I ran across this little gem. Somebody should really tack this one up on one of the sidebars... but not right now. I need more coffee...

Maria Lectrix

   public domain audiobook podcast – for people with catholic tastes

Pope Francis meets Vladimir Putin at the Vatican

Mr. Putin greeting the Supreme Pontiff 

In the afternoon of Monday 25 November 2013, the President of the Russian Federation, His Excellency Mr. Vladimir Putin, was received in audience by the Holy Father Francis. Mr. Putin subsequently went on to meet with the Secretary of State, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, who was accompanied by the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti.

Vladimir Putin kissing an icon at the Pope's flat

During the cordial discussions, satisfaction was expressed for the good existing bilateral relations, and the Parties focused on various questions of common interest, especially in relation to the life of the Catholic community in Russia, revealing the fundamental contribution of Christianity in society. In this context, mention was made of the critical situation faced by Christians in some regions of the world, as well as the defence of and promotion of values regarding the dignity of the person, and the protection of human life and the family.
Furthermore, special attention was paid to the pursuit of peace in the Middle East and the grave situation in Syria, with reference to which President Putin expressed thanks for the letter addressed to him by the Holy Father on the occasion of the G20 meeting in St. Petersburg. Emphasis was placed on the urgency of the need to bring an end to the violence and to ensure necessary humanitarian assistence for the population, as well as to promote concrete initiatives for a peaceful solution to the conflict, favouring negotiation and involving the various ethnic and religious groups, recognising their essential role in society.
[01755-02.01] [Original text: Italian - working translation ]
[B0783-XX.02]