PopeWatch: To His Buds

For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them.

Matthew 23: 4

Pope Francis spoke to his people, Left wing activists, in a video address to his pet group, IV World Meeting of Popular Movements.  Such gatherings involving the Pope are normally very revealing as the Pope states precisely what is on his mind when he is among those he perceives as friends.  Among other things the Pope said:

He said that a minimum wage or Universal basic income (UBI) is such that everyone in the world may have access to the most basic necessities of life. He added that it is right to fight for a humane distribution of these resources and it is up to governments to establish tax and redistribution schemes so that the wealth of one party is shared fairly without implying an unsustainable burden, especially on the middle class.

The Pope also noted that minimum income is a possibility but the reduction of the working day is another. He insisted that “working fewer hours so that more people can have access to the labor market is something we need to explore with some urgency.”

Go here to read the rest.  Translation:  people are entitled to be paid money simply for existing, but if they must work they should have to work fewer hours.  That this is economic lunacy goes without saying, but note that it obligates the Pope to do nothing.  PopeWatch encourages the Pope to put his money where is mouth is.  Reduce the hours for lay Catholics working for the Church with no reduction in pay.  Where the Church receives tax money, as in Germany, establish a Church basic income for Catholics sunk in poverty.  Screaming for Caesar to do something is as empty as the air used to utter the words;  doing something yourself is a good deal harder.  Go here to read the text of the speech.  Another choice excerpt:

Do you know what comes to mind now when, together with popular movements, I think of the Good Samaritan? Do you know what comes to mind? The protests over the death of George Floyd. It is clear that this type of reaction against social, racial or macho injustice can be manipulated or exploited by political machinations or whatever, but the main thing is that, in that protest against this death, there was the Collective Samaritan who is no fool! This movement did not pass by on the other side of the road when it saw the injury to human dignity caused by an abuse of power. The popular movements are not only social poets but also collective Samaritans.

If your business got burned out last year in the riots, or a loved one was murdered, the Pope has your back.  (To paste a target on it.)