By CE Marshall
The American Pope
There was an article in the paper last week regarding Pope Leo. In the article he is said to be criticizing the rich for "living in a bubble". (This was dated October 10, 2025). In his comments the headline leads the reader to understand the Pope is being critical of rich people. So, my question is “was he critical of the rich in general or a specific group of rich people?” I have a problem when somebody criticizes wealthy people for being wealthy. I think that form of criticism is a form of envy and is coveting you neighbor's possession. I do, however, agree that rich people can be selfish. So, should that money be taken away from them and redistributed? This is often the next step in this conversation and is the favorite talking point of the leaders of the left, that the rich are somehow innately bad people and should therefore have a lot of it taken away in the form of taxation. The hypocrisy is more than apparent. The pope himself lives in a palace. Shouldn't the Catholic church hand all that over to the poor if that's where their heart lays? I suppose that’s an instruction only to the "Other" rich people. Most of the major leftists of the ruling elite are very wealthy but they feel entitled to dictate to all of us how money should be equalized. Capitalism creates business which creates jobs which creates wealth. The left doesn’t want to look at that because it’s contrary to their belief that the government should be the source of all things. This is especially true for those whose wealth came from entertaining where they seem to have a great deal of guilt over their wealth (although they wouldn't dream of giving it all up). They'd rather force everyone to give their money up so then they can say they're "doing something" to help the poor. If government is a truly wise government, it acts as an instrument of the individual to enable us all to strive and succeed. The government is never effective at distributing wealth, in fact, it’s absolutely horrible at distributing wealth. So, while I agree, rich people can be selfish, I do not agree that that should somehow justify taking more of their money away. That is a form of the "always envious" communist philosophy, and it has been shown to be a failure for a long time. Look at Cuba look at North Korea look at the Soviet Union. That is what you get with communism. Abject poverty.
So that brings up the issue of my original point that there is envy on the part of the Pope regarding other people’s possessions. If he was referring to them as a bad group in general- that they are bad because they're rich- then I see this as being a sin. It could be that he didn't mean that so I am not accusing him of that, I'm only referring to the tone of the headline from the leftist- mainstream media.
So in what way should we help the poor according to scripture? Often, Jesus Christ, Yeshua, Joshua is quoted as saying "give to the poor" and He did, but He was typically referring to the spiritually poor, not necessarily the fiscally poor. He Himself was poor! God came to earth as Yeshua the Messiah to teach us to be wealthy in our spirit not that we needed to have things. He did not teach that poor people who don’t support themselves should be handed everything because "don’t you feel sorry for them?" Giving people money to do nothing is not helping them. I sincerely believe the worst thing you can do to a person is to give them stuff so they don't have to earn it themselves. It's demeaning and condescending and ultimately yields a sense of helplessness and a lack of purpose. Of course, we should have sympathy for the poor, but one should not be forced to give up money earned in order to help them. All charity for the poor must come from the heart and voluntarily. Forced taxation to equalize the "doers" with the "non-doers" is an abomination and should never be a part of conversation with anyone interested in the betterment of mankind. The men and women who build a product and/or a business that serves a need in society should be celebrated and imitated not maligned and criticized. Click your tongues and nod your head at their garish lifestyle and lack of taste all you want, but their money is not your money, and they owe you nothing, but the job given to you if you earn the place. So, with all due respect to the new "American" pope, I have a problem with this insinuation that a group of people- in this case the rich- is all guilty of something without regard to the good they also do. That sort of talk foments jealousy and envy and does nothing to advance mankind, including the poor.
One last remark on the poor. It should go without saying that I'm not referring to the elderly or the physically incapable, or vulnerable children or the mentally ill citizens of our society. That is an entirely different category where people are unable to help themselves and I do see society as responsible, through taxation if it's necessary, to help them. BUT- that does not mean the rich pay more. I'm opposed to progressive taxation. We should all have flesh in the game of protecting and taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves.
In my humble opinion.
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