Sunday, January 24, 1999
Pope wants to open arms to rich, elite
But exploitative capitalism denounced
BY VICTOR L. SIMPSON
The Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — Pope John Paul II on Saturday turned his church's attention to the evils of exploitative capitalism, issuing a major statement that also called upon the church to reach out to society's movers and shakers.
In a document intended to change the direction of the Roman Catholic church in the autumn of his papacy and the final days of the millennium, John Paul said pastors must preach the Christian message to the rich and the powerful, not just the poor.
The pope also pushed his church to battle “social sins which cry to heaven,” such as drug trafficking and corruption. But more generally, the missive reflects the pope's concerns about unfettered capitalism, moving the church away from its earlier worries about Marxism and liberation theology in the region.
The pope lamented that in the Americas as elsewhere “a model of society appears to be emerging in which the powerful predominate, setting aside and even eliminating the powerless.”
He called for the church to speak out more against “the culture of death” that kills through abortion, euthanasia and the “unnecessary recourse to the death penalty.”
And he saw danger in what he called the spread of “neoliberalism” in the Americas, describing it as a system “based on a purely economic conception of man” with “profit and law of the markets as its only parameters.”
The 24-page message was written in response to suggestions from bishops in both North and South America, called to the Vatican in 1997 to agree on joint strategy to win back disenchanted Catholics and promote a genuine “Christian spirituality.”
The document acknowledged the success Protestant evangelicals have had in winning over converts in the traditional Catholic bastion of Latin America, home to nearly half the world's 1 billion Catholics.
It also criticized the proselytizing activity by the evangelicals, suggesting coercion was involved. It noted the bishops themselves had questioned whether emphasis on meeting people's material needs “has not in the end left their hunger for God unsatisfied.”
In a sharp turn from the emphasis of the church since the 1960s, the pope called for a new activism to reach out to the leaders of society.
He noted that “love for the poor must be preferential but not exclusive.”
“If this evangelization of the leadership sector is neglected, it should not come as a surprise that many who are a part of it will be guided by criteria alien to the Gospel and at times openly contrary to it.”
Since the start of his papacy 20 years ago, John Paul has expressed his concern over unfettered capitalism and lately has been worrying about the effects of globalization on weaker economies, an issue of serious concern in the Americas because of the economic might of the United States.
He repeated in the document that the globalized economy must be examined in the “light of the principles of social justice.”
Corruption is rife in many Latin American countries, and John Paul acknowledged it played a role in the huge debt burden facing the region.
He called for the church to cooperate with governments and international agencies fighting the drug trade.
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