During World War II, Winston Churchill urged Stalin to consider the opinions of the Pope. Displaying classic arrogance, the dictator replied, “How many divisions does the Pope have?”
Over 70 years later, the Vatican remains a powerful influence in the world, while Russian Communism is dead.
Catholicism has survived across two millennia. It endured attempts at eradication by Roman emperors. It outlived a regrettable period when the Vatican functioned as secular state.
The Papacy has arguably emerged as the world’s most respected religious institution because modern Popes understand that the Vatican’s role is to lead in moral matters, not temporal ones. In that respect, they are directly following the example of Jesus himself.
Christ was born into a particularly troubling time. According to the New Testament, he was on occasion urged to take a stand on the political issues of the day, particularly the Roman occupation of the Jewish homeland. Jesus refused, and set an example of moral leadership that an extraordinary percentage of the world’s population considers to be the guiding light of all mankind.
It appears that Pope Francis has taken a different course than Jesus did. He has espoused views on matters of science, economics, and international affairs. In doing so, his opinions must be judged not as those of a religious figure, but as a political one.
While the Pontiff has been a breath of fresh air in his attempts to reform the administration of the Catholic Religion, his political views are tired, old, and frankly discredited. His immediate predecessors rejected the “Liberation Theology” which describes Pope Francis’s perspective.
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In his address to Congress, he spoke of the need for compassion to immigrants. Has he not reflected on the reality that no nation is currently taking in more immigrants, nor treating them better, than the United States? Shouldn’t he spend more time lecturing the governments that immigrants are freeing from, rather than the governments they are fleeing to?
The Pope has displayed great and justifiable concern for the poor. It appears that he singles out capitalism for criticism. But here his lack of adequate research is manifest. Capitalism has been the most successful system to reduce the number of people in poverty, while redistributionist regimes have failed to do so. Need examples? Compare the former nations of East and West Germany. Compare North Korea with South Korea. It wasn’t the economy of capitalist America that collapsed, it was the Soviet Union’s.
The Pope is clearly worried about the health of the environment. There are key areas, deforestation in his home continent of South America being a prime example, that are undeniably vital to the health of the planet. Rather than concentrate on that, however, he places his trust on increasingly suspect studies about man-made global warming. He has failed to mention that the “solutions” to this unproven issue would devastate the poor that he properly displays so much care for.
Pope Francis is correctly concerned about the dignity of each human life. What, then, compelled him to visit with the harsh totalitarian leadership of Cuba, but not with the heroic dissidents of that oppressed island nation? Why did he consent to speak in the shadow of a memorial to Che Guevara, a vicious murderer?
Indeed, in an era when stunning acts of aggression, repression and atrocity are increasing with frightening intensity as a result of the acts of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and terrorist forces, the Pontiff seems to inexplicably concentrate far more on his preconceived notions of the shortcomings of largely peaceful and open democratic western nations.
There are numerous international figures that, with greater knowledge and expertise, provide intellectual guidance on issues such as immigration, economics, and the environment. There is, however, only one Pope to remind all mankind of its obligation to treat each human with dignity, and in recognition of the divine spark that exists within each soul.