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Oh, jeez.
That was first thought. I clicked and read the AP
story. Oh,
Jeez. Then a second thought.
Wait.
AP?
Media pronouncements on
Pope Francis have, either through ignorance or design, been largely
misinterpreted/misrepresented, with a bias toward him in agreement
with the Left's hope that the meddlesome Catholic Church will finally
crack. Toe the line.
Their line. Of course no AP writer has ever been to church, so
this is all as mysterious as lady's bits.
I recognize a very fine line between Christianity and, say,
communism/socialism. The line is crossed when, in the name of
Christ, zealots miss entirely the nuance that is personal kindness v.
state enforced dictate.
The sixties and seventies brought us Jesuits, and
elected Democrats, like Robert Drinan and, Robert John
Cornell.
Radical antiwar Jesuits, the Berrigan Brothers, were a daily disgusting
headline. In 1980, Pope John Paul II unequivocally
demanded that all priests withdraw from electoral politics. I
mean,
how can Catholic priests be complicit with the murder of unborn
children
for chrissake?! Where were the Berrigans on that? They were
anything but nuanced.
Anyway, my instincts were correct. Ed Morrissey and Kathryn Jean
Lopez explain here that "the
longer context of Francis’ remarks this morning
to UN leadership provides a much more nuanced picture of Francis’ view of
economic policy — although
probably not nuanced enough for libertarian ears..."
Some Snippets.
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Pope
Francis discussed “equitable development” and a spirit of generosity,
and he even mentioned — near the end, almost as an afterthought — that
the state should continue to play a role in this. But there’s no
“demand” for broader “legitimate redistribution” by government. …
In
this case, the term “legitimate” is a limiting factor when
redistribution is placed in the context of the Gospel story of
Zacchaeus. Who was Zaccheaus? He was a tax collector — an agent of the
government — who overtaxed and profited from his cheating. In Luke 19,
Jesus’ visit to Jericho inspires this sinner and cheater to repent when
Jesus extends an invitation to join him. What does Zacchaeus do in
response? He proclaims his intent to redistribute his ill-gotten gains
back to those whom he defrauded, and to willingly and privately share
his wealth with the poor. ”And Zacchae’us stood and said to the Lord,
“Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have
defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.”
When Francis said “legitimate redistribution” right near the end, he
was clearly condoning some kind of role for governments in assisting
the poor. Perhaps he even believes in a more robust role than he lets
on here. But he did offer anything on that topic here. To be sure, a
demand for a more robust government role would not necessarily be
inconsistent with anything he said, but it’s also not what he said. In
fact, the use of the word “legitimate” here appears to play the
opposite role that the AP’s headline implies — namely, the Pope is
implying that not all government redistribution is “legitimate,” and
that there might be unspecified limits to what it is just for the state
to do. (Which is, in fact, part of the message of the earlier papal
documents he cites immediately before that line.)
JMJ
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