Pope Francis Tweets "Inequality is the root of social evil”

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That’s how it was looking after a three-word tweet from Pope Francis — in Latin — about inequality left some conservatives dazed and confused over Catholic teachings on economics.
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One more reason for Catholics to abandon “trickle down wealth” economics.
 
Tony_Micelli said:
One more reason for Catholics to abandon “trickle down wealth” economics.
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Pope Francis was giving a personal opinion. And it was wrong. Sin is the cause of all evil, social as well. Inequality is not evil, there will always be inequality becuase some people are shiftless, many are sinners, we are all sinners. Inequality that is caused by these can’t be remedied, they are a part of life.

Linus2nd
 
Love of money is the root of all evil, according to the Scripture.

As to his tweet: “Iniquitas radix malorum.”
Inequality is the root of social evil.
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Sounds good to me.
 
Pope Francis was giving a personal opinion. And it was wrong.
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Of course, the Holy Father is only not giving his opinion when it is in conformity to the Tea Party.

The cafeteria is wide open for those one the political left and right.
 
Tony_Micelli said:
Of course, the Holy Father is only not giving his opinion when it is in conformity to the Tea Party.

The cafeteria is wide open for those one the political left and right.
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So anything the Pope says on Twitter is infallible? You are a cafeteria catholic if you don’t agree with the Pope’s tweets?

:rolleyes:

I don’t agree with communist sentiments, no matter who says them.
 
But what inequality does Pope Francis mean? There are many kinds of inequality, and people on the left and right are making assertions about Pope Francis’ comments based on what they think inequality might be, or what they think Pope Francis means, but nobody knows what Pope Francis means.
 
Jozefo said:
Love of money is the root of all evil, according to the Scripture.

As to his tweet: “Iniquitas radix malorum.”

Sounds good to me.
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So then I take it that Pope Francis has declared that Rerum Novarum is no longer part of the papal Magisterium?
17. It must be first of all recognized that the condition of things inherent in human affairs must be borne with, for it is impossible to reduce civil society to one dead level. Socialists may in that intent do their utmost, but all striving against nature is in vain. There naturally exist among mankind manifold differences of the most important kind; people differ in capacity, skill, health, strength; and unequal fortune is a necessary result of unequal condition. Such inequality is far from being disadvantageous either to individuals or to the community. Social and public life can only be maintained by means of various kinds of capacity for business and the playing of many parts; and each man, as a rule, chooses the part which suits his own peculiar domestic condition…
  1. But although all citizens, without exception, can and ought to contribute to that common good in which individuals share so advantageously to themselves, yet it should not be supposed that all can contribute in the like way and to the same extent. No matter what changes may occur in forms of government, there will ever be differences and inequalities of condition in the State. Society cannot exist or be conceived of without them. Some there must be who devote themselves to the work of the commonwealth, who make the laws or administer justice, or whose advice and authority govern the nation in times of peace, and defend it in war. Such men clearly occupy the foremost place in the State, and should be held in highest estimation, for their work concerns most nearly and effectively the general interests of the community. Those who labor at a trade or calling do not promote the general welfare in such measure as this, but they benefit the nation, if less directly, in a most important manner. We have insisted, it is true, that, since the end of society is to make men better, the chief good that society can possess is virtue…
    And I guess John Paul II, who Francis just canonized this past weekend, was also dead wrong when he wrote:
    It should be noted that in today’s world, among other rights, the right of economic initiative is often suppressed. Yet it is a right which is important not only for the individual but also for the common good. Experience shows us that the denial of this right, or its limitation in the name of an alleged “equality” of everyone in society, diminishes, or in practice absolutely destroys the spirit of initiative, that is to say the creative subjectivity of the citizen. As a consequence, there arises, not so much a true equality as a “leveling down.” In the place of creative initiative there appears passivity, dependence and submission to the bureaucratic apparatus which, as the only “ordering” and “decision-making” body - if not also the “owner”- of the entire totality of goods and the means of production, puts everyone in a position of almost absolute dependence, which is similar to the traditional dependence of the worker-proletarian in capitalism. This provokes a sense of frustration or desperation and predisposes people to opt out of national life, impelling many to emigrate and also favoring a form of “psychological” emigration.
    And, I guess the other pope he canonized last Sunday, John XXIII, was wrong when he wrote:
  2. As Our predecessor, Pius XII, wisely said, "In a nation that is worthy of the name, inequalities among the social classes present few or no obstacles to their union in common brotherhood. We refer, of course, to those inequalities which result not from human caprice but from the nature of things – inequalities having to do with intellectual and spiritual growth, with economic facts, with differences in individual circumstances, within, of course, the limits prescribed by justice and mutual charity.’’
    Never realized that Twitter was so powerful.
 
Tony_Micelli said:
One more reason for Catholics to abandon “trickle down wealth” economics.
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It is a problem when snippets, 3-word tweets and one liners are subjectively embraced if they just happen to agree with one’s political stance without looking at the bigger picture. How about we all widen our horizon and read what the earlier encyclicals have to say about equality? Or are they no longer valid teaching? And equality sounds rather boring to me if our “sameness” squelches our individual and unique qualities. Of course, you aren’t speaking of the person, but solely of the material condition without thought of their eternal destination. Now, what could possibly be wrong with this picture?
“So, if we achieve maximum redistribution of resources, we will have eliminated ‘social evil,’ whatever that is?” wrote Rod Dreher in a rather snarky post at the American Conservative. “Yes, and that’s why the Soviet Union was the Garden of Eden.”
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Snarky or not, this does give one pause for thought. In a cookie-cutter world, If my assets are exactly the same as my neighbors, how does this influence my interior life and the teaching of Christ that I must become holy?
 
Iniquitas radix malorum

This is what the pope wrote and the question ought to be asked: what does it mean? According to Google Translate it means “Violence is the root of evil.” So, does iniquitas mean inequality? Violence? Iniquity? I think one thing is sure, the word “social” is nowhere to be found and, based on the hatchet job done in translating Evangelii Gaudium, I doubt that the translation of this tweet is any more accurate.

Ender
 
Someone please point out where economics is anywhere in his statement? There are many instances of inequality, including legal, economic, social, educational, etc. Maybe it would be best not to read into twitter posts.
 
Income inequality is based on greed, power and prestige. There are enough world resources to go around if it was not for these injustices.

LOVE! ❤️
 
Ender said:
Iniquitas radix malorum

This is what the pope wrote and the question ought to be asked: what does it mean? According to Google Translate it means “Violence is the root of evil.” So, does iniquitas mean inequality? Violence? Iniquity? I think one thing is sure, the word “social” is nowhere to be found and, based on the hatchet job done in translating Evangelii Gaudium, I doubt that the translation of this tweet is any more accurate.

Ender
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Good points. Also, evil is in the plural, not singular. Perhaps translations are the roots of evils. 🙂
 
I think Pope Francis needs to elaborate on this notion because I don’t understand what he means.

Inequality in what respect?

There is inequality of power between parents and children, there is inequality of power between the rulers and the ruled, but these are not unjust in Catholic thought. Today people appeal to notions of “marriage equality” to support same sex marriage, but this notion of equality is simply not compatible in Catholic thought, we do not consider the relationships to be equatable at all on the terms of marriage.

Moreover the Church does not teach that an economic situation is only just if everyone has the same amount of wealth or possessions, is this not some hyper form of communism which the Church condemns?

What does Francis mean and where is he deriving these thoughts from?
 
It’s worth pointing out that it can also be translated as “Injustice is the root of evil,” which, based on the sentimentality that I gather from Pope Francis, I’d say may very well be the most likely translation.

EDIT: Not that I rely on Google for absolute truths, but as far as data aggregation and analysis goes, they have some expertise in the field. According to their translator statistics, translating iniquitas as inequality is considered a rarity. The most commonly used translation of iniquitas is iniquity, with injustice being a more uncommon translation.

Just worth a thought…
 
Robert_Sock said:
Income inequality is based on greed, power and prestige. There are enough world resources to go around if it was not for these injustices.

LOVE! ❤️
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No. Mostly income inequality is based on where you work and what you earn. If you change jobs, leaving Burger King to work at Starbucks, and later leave Starbucks to work at a bank, are you guilty of “greed, power, and prestige” for changing jobs?

If you are a private in the U.S. Army and get promoted to corporal and later to Staff Sergeant, are you guilty of greed?

If a man changes jobs for more pay to better support his family, is that greed, power and prestige? Of course not.
 
Has anyone considered that the statement is NOT a value judgment on inequality?

Often, people respond to inequality with envy. Thus, the inequality leads to the envy, which leads to the social evil. If you minimize the inequality, you minimize the social evil.

None of this implies that inequality is an intrinsic evil. Something can be the source of evil without being evil. 🤷
 
JimG said:
No. Mostly income inequality is based on where you work and what you earn. If you change jobs, leaving Burger King to work at Starbucks, and later leave Starbucks to work at a bank, are you guilty of “greed, power, and prestige” for changing jobs?

If you are a private in the U.S. Army and get promoted to corporal and later to Staff Sergeant, are you guilty of greed?

If a man changes jobs for more pay to better support his family, is that greed, power and prestige? Of course not.
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Of course not, but that, I’m sure, is not what Pope Francis and Bishops are getting at.

US Bishops’ Labor Day statement focuses on income inequality

Speaking with Vatican Radio, Bishop Blaire said, “The labour day statement seeks to address this widening disparity between rich and poor by stressing the importance of work and how people need a job to realize their dignity as human beings, and to have work which provides adequate income for them to live in dignity as human beings.”

Text from page en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/09/02/us_bishops_labor_day_statement_focuses_on_income_inequality/en1-724893
of the Vatican Radio website

LOVE! ❤️
 
Robert_Sock said:
Of course not, but that, I’m sure, is not what Pope Francis and Bishops are getting at.

US Bishops’ Labor Day statement focuses on income inequality

Speaking with Vatican Radio, Bishop Blaire said, “The labour day statement seeks to address this widening disparity between rich and poor by stressing the importance of work and how people need a job to realize their dignity as human beings, and to have work which provides adequate income for them to live in dignity as human beings.”

Text from page en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/09/02/us_bishops_labor_day_statement_focuses_on_income_inequality/en1-724893
of the Vatican Radio website

LOVE! ❤️
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I agree: Jobs and job growth are what is needed–not income equality. And a disparity between rich and poor has nothing to do with income equality. A billionaire can generate income by letting his money do the work.

But jobs are the main route to income growth and less income disparity. Nothing the government is now doing or attempting, including such things as a minimum wage increase, will lead to job growth, which is needed.
 
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