Lincoln, Neb., Dec 3, 2013 / 00:03 am
Critics of Pope Francis' warnings about capitalism are reducing him to a "cartoonish socialist" to diminish the seriousness of his message, Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Neb. has said.
"The Pope affirmed that markets must be understood and administered in justice, with due regard for the sovereignty and solidarity of families and human dignity," Bishop Conley said in a Dec. 2 column for the Republican-leaning website National Review Online.
He added that the Pope's Nov. 26 document "Evangelii Gaudium" did not reject capitalism, but instead rejected "idolatry of any economic system" and "called Catholics to human solidarity in the context of public policy."
Parts of Pope Francis' 85-page apostolic exhortation criticized the idea that unregulated free markets will "inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world." He also warned about the placement of "crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system."