Who gives a shit what the Pope says?? Raise your hand.

There's a lot of wealth in St. Peter's Basillica. Let's start there with the redistribution. Michelangelo's Pieta has got to be worth millions. Think of the poor that would feed. And all that prime real estate the Vatican has. You could build a dandy golf course, and donate half the greens' fees to the underprivileged.

He is entitled to his own opinions but not to his own facts. Solidarity is not a word that can be found in the bible. Besides, he is the head of a country; he is free to implement these ideas in Vatican City first he takes the global community to task.

It is why church and state must be kept separate, especially as so many conservatives claim that the American republic was founded on Biblical principles. The Liberty Bell says: Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV X

In the fictionalized biography _Citizen Tom Paine_ by Howard Fast (a communist), the rebels expected a Jubilee, to be forgiven of their debts, to have their lands returned, and so on. That was clearly the intention of Leviticus 25 "The Sabbath Year":

10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan.
11 The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines.
12 For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.

14 “‘If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other.

23 “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.

28 But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property. --

Bible Gateway here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea...

Just to note, also, the pope does not own the wealth of the Church.

The rhetorical calls here for redistribution of Church property to the poor fail on the "eat the rich" fallacy of the radical left. Wealth must be created. If you distributed all the "excess" money in the world, it would not last "the poor" a single year. The Church knows that; but they have no mechanism for creating new wealth. They are in a different line of business, entirely ... well, actually, in _no_ line of business. That's the problem, is it not?

I liked John Paul II, had no firm opinions on Benedict, but really disagree with Pope Francis' beliefs. He is afflicted with a poison called liberation theology.

I agree with the others' comments and will add that wealth was different in biblical times. More wealth is created today, and the nature of the wealth is different.

Yep, and he just won't shut up, either...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/09...

The pope can pretty much ***deleted*** .. In my younger years I did a fine job of helping lots of folks around me. When the time came that I needed some help, there was no one.. I found myself alone, but also finally free for I now saw the true nature of things and being destitute myself was now also free of the beggars. I have never looked back.. or to paraphrase the immortal words of Frank Cross, "Scrape them off. If you want to save someone, save yourself."

Note that Zacchaeus' return of wealth was voluntary. What Jesus taught was wealth would/could create a dichotomy of spirit. A person who was wealthy but did not allow that wealth to control their lives but freely gave to others was not necessarily bad. So long as the love of wealth did not come before your love of God or your service to others less fortunate,you were in very little danger of condemnation.

Well, then, let the Pope be the first to be the example of self-sacrifice and give up all of his wealth. Then he can talk meaningfully about such matters.