Pope says communists are closet Christians

[Vlerchan]

(Reuters) - Pope Francis, whose criticisms of unbridled capitalism have prompted some to label him a Marxist, said in an interview published on Sunday that communists had stolen the flag of Christianity.

The 77-year-old pontiff gave an interview to Il Messaggero, Rome's local newspaper, to mark the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, a Roman holiday.

He was asked about a blog post in the Economist magazine that said he sounded like a Leninist when he criticized capitalism and called for radical economic reform.

"I can only say that the communists have stolen our flag. The flag of the poor is Christian. Poverty is at the center of the Gospel," he said, citing Biblical passages about the need to help the poor, the sick and the needy.

"Communists say that all this is communism. Sure, twenty centuries later. So when they speak, one can say to them: 'but then you are Christian'," he said, laughing.

Since his election in March 2013, Francis has often attacked the global economic system as being insensitive to the poor and not doing enough to share wealth with those who need it most.

Earlier this month, he criticized the wealth made from financial speculation as intolerable and said speculation on commodities was a scandal that compromised the poor's access to food.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/29/us-pope-communism-idUSKBN0F40L020140629
I'm thinking best Pope ever.

[Kurgg]

Luckily I am a Finnish pagan :P

If Päivi Räsänen (leader of Christian Democrats) had said that, there would 10 000 more atheist in Finland. When she says something like this, there is always people rejecting from the church.

As this message would be completely off-topic without this, I say that one don't need to be a communist to help the poors.

[Gamma Male]

Good. Now if they would stop helping spread aids in Africa, I might actually stop detesting them.

[dirtyboxer55]

i wish i lived in a communist utopia complete with labor camps and dictatorship

[JamesSuperBoy]

I think the Vatican has made millions

Bankers' best guesses about the Vatican's wealth put it at $10 billion to $15 billion. Of this wealth, Italian stockholdings alone run to $1.6 billion, 15% of the value of listed shares on the Italian market. The Vatican has big investments in banking, insurance, chemicals, steel, construction, real estate. Dividends help pay for Vatican expenses and charities such as assisting 1,500,000 children and providing some measure of food and clothing to 7,000,000 needy Italians. Unlike ordinary stockholders, the Vatican pays no taxes on this income, which led the leftist Rome weekly L'Espresso last week to call it "the biggest.

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,833509,00.html

[Vlerchan]

Good. Now if they would stop helping spread aids in Africa, I might actually stop detesting them.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/the-pope/8148944/The-Pope-drops-Catholic-ban-on-condoms-in-historic-shift.html

[Gamma Male]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/the-pope/8148944/The-Pope-drops-Catholic-ban-on-condoms-in-historic-shift.html

Actions speak louder than words. He can claim to be as liberal as he wants, but until the catholic church
Starts punishing and turning in child molesting priests

Actually stops discouraging condom use, instead of issuing a half assed reversal and not doing anything

And about a dozen other things, I'll remain skeptical.

[Vlerchan]

He can claim to be as liberal as he wants.
He didn't claim to be a liberal.

I also don't ever expect such to happen considering the nature of the Catholic Church.

[Stronk Serb]

Luckily I am a Finnish pagan :P

Perkeleeee! I am a pagan sympathizer. I could identify with Slavic paganidm but I don't hold it as absolute truth. I know Perkele is your chief god.

[Kurgg]

Perkeleeee! I am a pagan sympathizer. I could identify with Slavic paganidm but I don't hold it as absolute truth. I know Perkele is your chief god.
Yes, it is one ofhis name. Most people call him "Ukko" which means "old man" in Finnish. Since the Christianity came here, the word "Perkele" has been assosiated to Satan, so there aren't too many people using the word.

[Stronk Serb]

Yes, it is one ofhis name. Most people call him "Ukko" which means "old man" in Finnish. Since the Christianity came here, the word "Perkele" has been assosiated to Satan, so there aren't too many people using the word.

Yeah. The Finnish gods got demonized and in case of Serbian Slavic Paganism, totally forgoten.

[gothy]

from what I heard he does seem to be a better person than the other popes who were corrupt and crazy. Im not Catholic however and i dont know too much about the pope.

[Kurgg]

Yeah. The Finnish gods got demonized and in case of Serbian Slavic Paganism, totally forgoten.
Luckily, our religion did not got destroyed completely, it had partly assimilated with Christanity. We still respect nature and think it is holy. We also have some holidays from our old religions with alternate, Christian message. For example, Juhannus is a festival for John Baptizer and for the longest day of the summer.

I talko too much and like it is a PM

[Lovelife090994]

Actions speak louder than words. He can claim to be as liberal as he wants, but until the catholic church
Starts punishing and turning in child molesting priests

Actually stops discouraging condom use, instead of issuing a half assed reversal and not doing anything

And about a dozen other things, I'll remain skeptical.

You do realize that Catholics and Protestants alike are against molesters right? Just because the molester was a priest doesn't ruin all of Catholicism.

[Gamma Male]

You do realize that Catholics and Protestants alike are against molesters right? Just because the molester was a priest doesn't ruin all of Catholicism.

Yes, but I was criticising the church leaders and not all Catholics. The Catholic church has protected and not turned in dozens, maybe hundreds of child molesting priests.

But like I said, actions speak louder than words. They can claim to be against child molesters but the way they've protected them says otherwise.

[Lovelife090994]

Yes, but I was criticising the church leaders and not all Catholics. The Catholic church has protected and not turned in dozens, maybe hundreds of child molesting priests.

But like I said, actions speak louder than words. They can claim to be against child molesters but the way they've protected them says otherwise.

You're ignoring the priests, nuns, and even the pope who have all worked to expose this issue. Why write that off? Actions do speak louder but actions happen by words of planning. Actions take time, words can spouted in an instant.

[Gamma Male]

You're ignoring the priests, nuns, and even the pope who have all worked to expose this issue. Why write that off? Actions do speak louder but actions happen by words of planning. Actions take time, words can spouted in an instant.

They haven't done anything to expose the issue. They've actually protected the child molesting priests by moving them around and not turning them in.

[Lovelife090994]

They haven't done anything to expose the issue. They've actually protected the child molesting priests by moving them around and not turning them in.

Um no. This shows you've ignored the news of progress against the child molesters in the church. Just because so many exist doesn't make it right or make it the fault of the churchgoers.