Pope Francis Lashes Out at Capitalism, Defends Rights of Farmers, Laborers
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Pope Francis urged the people of Latin America to stand up to the world's capitalist system and change the world economic order by creating a "truly communitarian economy" based on distribution of goods among all.
Starting his speech with the need to instigate change, he called on the faithful to fight to protect human dignity in a "system" where farm workers end up without land or home and laborers without rights.
"Do we realize that that system has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature?" he asked at a speech before a gathering of social movements in Bolivia.
Once "capital" becomes an "idol" and guides individuals and once "greed for money presides over the entire socioeconomic system," it ruins society, Francis said. It enslaves individuals and destroys "fraternity," a system which "excludes, debases and kills."
"This system is by now intolerable. So let's not be afraid to say it: we need change; we want change," Pope Francis said.
The Pope called on his followers to create a "truly communitarian economy," a system that would guarantee the three "L's" of land, lodging and labor.
"It is no utopia or chimera. It is an extremely realistic prospect. We can achieve it. Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation," the Pope said in the city of Santa Cruz to participants of the second world meeting of popular movements, an international body that brings together organizations of people on the margins of society, RT reported.
The Argentinian-native Pope urged the crowd to tackle "three great tasks".
The first task is to create an economy at the "service of peoples" not at the "service of money". Such an approach, the Pope believes, will focus on service rather than profits which in return will protect "Mother Earth."
The second task is to unite our peoples on the "path of peace and justice" to defend their sovereignty against "colonialism."
"The new colonialism takes on different faces. At times it appears as the anonymous influence of mammon: corporations, loan agencies, certain free trade treaties, and the imposition of measures of austerity which always tighten the belt of workers and the poor."
"Monopolizing communications" is yet another example of consumerism and "new colonialism" for the Pope that ultimately denies countries the right to development.
