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Pope Francis – the Jesuit priest from Argentina
(TIME) – How do you practice humility from the most exalted throne on earth? Rarely has a new player on the world stage captured so much attention so quickly–young and old, faithful and cynical–as has Pope Francis. In his nine months in office, he has placed himself at the very center of the central conversations of our time: about wealth and poverty, fairness and justice, transparency, modernity, globalization, the role of women, the nature of marriage, the temptations of power.
Pravda … from the capital of Marx and Snowden:
Pope Francis & the globalization of indifference
MOSCOW (RT) – Regardless of what faith or philosophy one subscribes to, the relevance of the Pope’s message – that capitalism has grown unmanageably reckless and tyrannical – cannot be shied away from.
The pontiff’s concept of the ‘idolatry of money’ has touched every facet of modern society. It is present in neoliberal leaders who slash social services and practice an unrestrained brand of capitalism. It’s in lobby groups and the corporate CEOs, bankers, and hedge fund managers that pull the strings of ‘democracy’ from behind the scenes. It’s in environmental degradation stemming from the mass production of consumer goods under the wasteful planned obsolescence model.
It’s also in the immoral hegemony of the military-industrial-complex; in the drive to patent organisms, plants, and animals; and in the pop-culture circus that incentivizes the unchecked dominance of consumerism, self-absorption and narcissism.
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But he beat butcher Bashar Assad, not to mention Republican senator Ted Cruz!
Cross-posted from AG’s diary – Time Wimps Out w/”Person Of The Year” Choice. No Surprise.
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This was my recent comment and I’ll add a prediction: Pope Francis will make a difference with American Catholics and give hope to the less fortunate. This will give renewed hope from the days of Pope John XXIII. The pope also stated healthcare is a human right and hopefully women rights will be part of his renewal. The Catholic hierarchy will have to adapt. The call by the bishops to vote Republican will be voiced less often or not heard by the laity.
○ USCCB – Pope Francis and Economic Inequality: Five Essential Quotes
He certainly has the potential to be a transformative leader. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Pope Francis’ work so far. After Benedict and the telegenic but reactionary John Paul II, Francis is a breath of fresh air. Of course, he’s still early on in his tenure, so I will be withholding much of my judgment for a bit, until I get an idea of just how reform-minded he really is. But he has managed to get our more reactionary Catholic leaders upset, which is a plus.
Would love to know the inside scoop on how the Papal Conclave settled on this man. How I as a long ago lapsed Catholic could review the list of potential contenders and see but two that exhibited genuine concern for those less fortunate and only one of those two had not in any way been ensnared in the church’s sex abuse scandals. The odds that those old churchmen and I would settle on the same man should have been close to zero.