Pope Leo condemns wealthy living in a bubble of luxury
Pope Leo
The Vatican on Thursday released the document titled “I Loved You,” which Francis began writing in his final months but was unable to complete.
Leo, who was elected in May, stated that the text belonged to Francis, repeatedly quoting him, but said he had made and signed the document.
The 100-page document traces the history of Christianity’s enduring concern for poor people, from biblical quotations and the teachings of the church fathers to recent popes preaching care for immigrants, prisoners and victims of human trafficking.
Leo believes that women’s religious orders, in particular, fulfill God’s mission to care for the sick, feed the poor, and welcome strangers, and he also praises ordinary people’s movements that defend land, housing, and work for society’s most disadvantaged.
Leo’s conclusion is that the Catholic Church’s “preferential option for the poor” has existed from the beginning, is indisputable, and is the very essence of being Christian.
It calls for a renewed commitment to fixing the structural causes of poverty while providing unquestioning charity to those in need.
Leo writes: “When the church kneels beside a leper, a malnourished child, or an unknown dying person, she fulfills her deepest mission: to love the Lord where he is most crippled.”
Leo quotes Francis frequently, including the Argentinian pope’s most-quoted speeches about the global “killer economy” and his criticism of the trickle-down economy.
Francis touched on these points from the start of his papacy in 2013, saying he wanted “a church for the poor and for the poor.”
“God has a special place in his heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and he asks us, his church, to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the most vulnerable,” Leo writes.
Echoing Francis, Leo opposes the “illusion of happiness” that comes from accumulating wealth.
“So, in a world where the number of poor people is increasing, we see the growth of wealthy elites who, paradoxically, live in a bubble of comfort and luxury, almost in another world compared to ordinary people,” he said.
Francis’ frequent criticism of capitalism has angered many conservative and wealthy Catholics, especially in the United States, who accused the Argentinian Jesuit of being a Marxist.
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