Conservatives really, really hate it when Pope Frank says things like this:
Handing over wealth to the poor is Christianity – not communism, Pope Francis told Catholics.
The pope struck back during Mass Tuesday at critics who accuse him of promoting socialist ideals, saying they misunderstood the Gospels’ central theme, reported National Catholic Reporter.
“Poverty is precisely at the heart of the Gospel,” Pope Francis said. “If we were to remove poverty from the Gospel, people would understand nothing about Jesus’ message.”
He urged Catholics to share their “wealth of the heart” – which he said Christ taught and offered to everyone – by sharing the wealth in their wallet.
“When the faith doesn’t reach your pockets, it is not a genuine faith,” the pope said.
Pope Francis reminded Christians that Jesus became poor and eventually sacrificed his own life to save humanity – but he said charity is not enough.
“Christian poverty is that I give to the poor what is mine, not just what is left over, but even that which I need for myself, because I know that he enriches me,” he said.
“Why does the poor person enrich me?” the pope continued. “Because Jesus said that he himself is in the poor.”
He said Christ works within those who give up their attachment to worldly possessions, telling Catholics that giving to others would enrich them – just as Jesus gave of himself in the Eucharist.
“Okay, so lets add the Bible to climate change. The Pope doesn’t know beans about either!” Jeb
Rick Santorum says that we shouldn’t listen to the Pope on issues of poverty because he’s neither an economist nor a povertist. We should leave that to experts like Milton Friedman and Arthur Laffer.