Is pope Francis a socialist?

Will the Vatican clergy (and Rush Limbaugh) allow him to carry out his radical plan?

It's nothing short o miraculous!" #on Franco $ttonelli says as he admires his brainchild! a modern! new apartment comple% or immigrants and the homeless near the center o &c'ui (erme! a town in northwest Italy) Its *+ apartments! grassy courtyard! and ad,oining soup -itchen were built with unds rom the local church and the town council) .ome might ind any collaboration o /atholic priests and local politicians miraculous 0 the church o Rome mo1es slowly! and Italy's burdensome bureaucracy can hobble e1en the most agile politician) 2ut or $ttonelli! who wor-ed on this pro,ect or 34 years! the miracle lies elsewhere5 townspeople are stopping him in the street! o ering to help) 6In o1er 78 years as a parish priest! I'1e ne1er witnessed anything li-e it!6 he says) 6(hey come up and say! '9apa Francis says we should do something to help the poor) What can I do?' 6 Last February! when 2enedict :VI became the irst pope in ;44 years to resign! his announcement shoo- the /atholic /hurch to the core) 2ut soon the sense o shocsubsided as his successor! the irst Latin &merican pope 0 9apa Francis 0 charmed the world) <ere was a man 1ery di erent rom his immediate predecessors) <e was clearly humble and sel 0e acing) <e was plainly uncom ortable with much o the pomp and circumstance and the la1ish trappings o his o ice in the Vatican that helped con,ure the awe and authority o popes down the centuries) &nd his early actions! too! suggested that here was a pope 'uite unli-e any other) 2y ta-ing the name Francis 0 a ter Francis o &ssisi! the 37th century saint 0 the new pope made a declaration o intent one that no pre1ious pope had dared ma-e5 <e renounced the ortune and status he was born into! to li1e humbly among the poor) (he 'uestion * billion /hristians and e1en more nonbelie1ers around the world are as-ing themsel1es as they try to discern what to ma-e o the new leader o the /atholic /hurch's 3 billion ollowers is a simple one5 Is the pope a socialist? <e has opted to li1e in a modest guest house ad,oining the &postolic 9alace rather than in the sumptuous papal apartments) <e regularly ditches the papal motorcade and security! carries his own cases! and telephones ordinary /atholics who see- his help) <e also 0 his 2ishop o &lms has hinted 0 snea-s out at night to eed the poor) =1en the secularist press! traditionally the church's most 1oci erous critics! is impressed by this ;+0year0old ponti ) 6(he Vatican press o icers are ama>ed!6 says ?onsignor &nthony Figueiredo o the 9onti ical @orth &merican /ollege in the Vatican) 6(hey were used to an almost wee-ly attac- against 2enedict :VI) 6@ow! the mood has changed completely) (he pope is so popular! a spo-esman or /2. says his networ- runs an item on the pope e1ery ew days)6 (he le t0leaning Guardian! which routinely heaped opprobrium on the Vatican or its mishandling o the pedophile priests scandal! hails Francis as the liberals' new poster boy) Literally5 (omorrow's undergraduates! predicts Aonathan Freedland! will adorn their rooms with posters o Francis instead o /he Bue1ara) &nd Time ,ust named him their 9erson o the Cear) & ter a decade o seeing their church trashed or child abuse and money0laundering! /atholics are bas-ing in the goodwill generated o1ernight by the thoughts and actions o their new leader) Beorge 9itcher! ormer ad1isor to the archbishop o /anterbury! says! 6Francis is a ecting the way people see /hristianity as a whole)6 For many conser1ati1e &mericans! who belie1e socialism begins with street lighting! the 'uestion o whether the pope is a socialist is not moot) 2e ore they ,oin in the songs

o praise or the pope they need to -now which side the pope is on) $ course! the notion that 9ope Francis is a true socialist is absurd) .ocialists belie1e in the state ta-ing control o the commanding heights o the economy) (hey belie1e the ree mar-et should be substituted by a command economy in which goods are produced according to need and prices are i%ed to ensure airness) @othing 9ope Francis has said or done would suggest or a moment that he is a dangerous radical or e1en that he secretly harbors socialist thoughts) 2ut i you listen to his statements and loo- at his actions! a ponti emerges who is ar more critical o the rampant materialism that dri1es the Western world than any pope in li1ing memory) In doctrinal matters he remains a conser1ati1e) 2ut one thing is certain! he is not a raid o change) $n .eptember 34! Francis 1isited the &stalli /entre! the Aesuits' re ugee center in the heart o Rome! and met with &dam! a 770year0old soldier rom #ar ur! and /arol! a teacher who led .yria last summer) (he pope listened to the two o them spea- o their plight in e%ile be ore turning to his ellow churchmen 0 among them a cardinal and an au%iliary bishop 0 with a challenge5 Instead o selling your disused con1ents and empty monasteries! why not turn them into re ugee shelters? (hat audacious proposal! ollowed up a ew days later by a pledge to re orm the Vatican's administration! set Francis on a collision course with the Roman curia) ((he word comes rom the Latin coviria! gathering o men! and includes the bishops! priests! laymen and women who run the Vatican administration)) (he curia are charged with a 1ariety o unctions! rom the suspension o theologians deemed to ha1e strayed rom the church's teaching to the appointment o .wiss Buards! and its thousand0plus members are commonly regarded as uni ormly resistant to change) &nd they also en,oy controlling a 1ast ortune) Renouncing the income rom the sale o important assets would be a radical step or a group 9ro essor <ans Dung describes as 6the reactionaries at the heart o the Vatican)6 (he Berman theologian! who was barred rom teaching /atholic theology by the curia's /ongregation or the 9ropagation o the Faith in 3E;E! argues that they 6ha1e an interest in preser1ing the status 'uo6 and will pre1ent Francis 6 rom translating his words! which are so permeated with mercy and pastoral wor-! into action) <e has the necessary 'ualities o the captain o the ship to steer the church by the Bospel! not by medie1al canon law with its insistence on absolutism! clericalism and celibacy)6 ?any agree with Dung that the Vatican under Francis runs the ris- o being turned into a battleground) 6(he curia li1e an insulated e%istence and breathe a rari ied air!6 says $ttonelli! 6whereas this pope hails rom the trenches) <e -nows irsthand what people want and how to spea- to them) & clash is ine1itable)6 Dung is hope ul about the outcome5 (he enormous capital o credibility he has earned should ma-e him power ul against the dictatorship o the curia)" 2ecause they operate behind the scenes! Vatican bureaucrats can all too easily get away with secrecy 0 and crimes) .candals in1ol1ing clerics' 1isits to gay brothels and money laundering by the Vatican 2an- ha1e sealed the curia's reputation as #a Vinci /ode baddies) (hey ha1e a lot at sta-e in things continuing as they are!" claims one Vatican watcher! re erring to conspiracy theories surrounding the death o 9ope Aohn 9aul I in 3E;F a ter only 77 days) (hey will see o anyone! e1en a pope! i they suspect opposition)" Francis seems determined to bring the curia to heel) <e has appointed a team to in1estigate the Vatican 2an- and eight cardinals to tac-le the re orm o the curia) (he mo1e drew the e%pected 6murmurings o concern rom within the Vatican!6 according to Figueiredo! and it was hailed by 9ro essor &lberto ?elloni! a church historian at the

Gni1ersity o ?odena! as the 6most important step in the history o the church or the past 34 centuries)6 6Francis belie1es in change by committee!6 says Father Berard Whelan o the 9onti ical Bregorian Gni1ersity in Rome! e%plaining that Francis is allowing his Aesuit colors to show) 6<e trusts the consultati1e process) It is embedded deep in the Aesuit system) Listening and ser1ing on committees are eatures o the order)6 Last month! Francis instructed /atholic bishops worldwide to in1ite parishioners' 1iews on a range o issues! rom birth control to di1orce) (he consultation 6does not mean the church is a parliamentary democracy!6 Whelan e%plains) Francis has no intention o changing doctrine to please the ma,ority) 6(here is no 'uestion that he is doctrinally conser1ati1e 0 he has set down mar-ers li-e women's ordination and abortion!6 said Whelan) 2ut issues such as di1orcees remarrying are di erent) 6(hat is a real runner) <e will approach the issue through a big participati1e synod)6 (he pope's e%perience as a Aesuit in 2uenos &ires laid the oundation or his aith in consultation) It also shaped his 1ision o the church's mission 0 which is already pro1ing contro1ersial) When Francis 0 -nown then as Aorge ?aria 2ergoglio 0 was named to lead the Aesuits in 2uenos &ires! he was 7; years old) 6<e was charismatic but arrogant! autocratic! and di icult!6 says his biographer! 9aul Vallely) 2ergoglio later admitted to ma-ing 6hundreds o mista-es6 then) $ne was to withdraw his order's support rom two Aesuits wor-ing in the slums o 2uenos &ires) $rlando Corio and Francisco Aalics had embraced Liberation (heology! which called on the church to impro1e the political and economic status o the poor as well as promote their spiritual li e) 2oth 9ope Aohn 9aul II and 2enedict :VI 1iewed Liberation (heology as ?ar%ism by stealth! as did the right0wing military ,unta that sei>ed power in 3E;+! launching &rgentina's #irty War) ?ore than 74!444 people were 6disappeared6 during that period5 when 2ergoglio washed his hands o Corio and Aalics he condemned them to torture and imprisonment) Vallely! who in1estigated the incident or his boo-! Pope Francis: Untying the Knots! ound witnesses in &rgentina who claimed that a remorse ul 2ergoglio wor-ed tirelessly behind the scenes to ree the two priests) <is ellow Aesuits ne1er 'uite trusted him again! though! and at the close o his tenure he was banished irst to Bermany and then to /ordoba! &rgentina's second city) (here! according to Vallely! 2ergoglio embar-ed on a 740day retreat! during which he underwent the rigors o the spiritual e%ercises designed by .aint Ignatius Loyola! the ounder o the Aesuit order) <e came bac- to 2uenos &ires in 3EE* a changed man) <e wor-ed in the slums! and threw himsel into organi>ing the poor who li1ed in the capital's garbage heaps into a union) 2y the time he was appointed archbishop o 2uenos &ires he had 6learned humility!6 says Vallely! and become a 6champion o the poor)6 .ome! including Vallely! read huge signi icance in the pope's meeting last summer with Busta1o Butierre>! the 9eru1ian ounder o Liberation (heology5 Francis was bringing in rom the cold the radical! egalitarian acti1ist that 9olish and Berman popes! raised in the shadow o .o1iet communism! had latly re,ected) (he pope's apostolic e%hortation! =1angelii Baudium! did nothing to dispel this perception) Indeed! the *FF0page document set out charity as the moral imperati1e or a /atholic conscience! decried the growing gap between rich and poor! and condemned the capitalist system that produced it)

(his ine'uity! he argues! is based on the mista-en assumption that 6economic growth! encouraged by a ree mar-et! will ine1itably bring about greater ,ustice and inclusi1eness in the world) (his opinion! which has ne1er been con irmed by the acts! e%presses a crude and nai1e trust in the goodness o those wielding economic power and in the sacrali>ed wor-ings o the pre1ailing economic system)6 9eggy @oonan! the doyenne o G).) conser1ati1e political columnists! heard a 6re1olutionary6 call to be 6a saint6 in that) $thers heard alarm bells) .arah 9alin said she was 6ta-en abac-6 by the pope's 6liberal6 message 0 be ore being orced to apologi>e) Rush Limbaugh lambasted the papal words as 6pure ?ar%ism)6 The Economist agreed5 Francis is subtle and thought ul when he approaches so many issues!" says 2ruce /lar-! who edits the maga>ine's religious blog! 2ut his 1iews on the economy sound ill0thought0out)" I the pope is to be ,udged by his enemies! he certainly appears to be heading in the right direction) <e may not be a socialist! but he is certainly willing to bring to bear all the powers at his command to ma-e the world a more compassionate place! and he is plainly una raid to upset 1ested interests that get his way) (he argument about 9ope Francis is not con ined to economicsH it goes to the 1ery heart o /atholic teaching5 What is the church or? &re its priests glori ied social wor-ers who assist the 1ulnerable and marginali>ed? $r are they spiritual guides who! through liturgy and rituals! promote indi1idual sal1ation? It is a tribute to the pope that the answers to these 'uestions suddenly engage &merican shoc- ,oc-s and =nglish economists as well as ordinary /atholics) .uddenly! a church that was increasingly irrele1ant is leading a undamental argument about social and economic policy) (his is all because o a charismatic man who delights and disconcerts in e'ual measure) ?uch o the world is pulling or Francis to wor- miracles as he ta-es on the curia to ma-e the church more responsi1e to criticism and amenable to change) (o some! that sounds li-e someone too eager to roc- the boat) 2ut! loo-ing bac- at the horrors that ha1e emerged and the innocents let down by complacency and secrecy! ew /atholics can honestly say the church is not due or re orm! and most belie1e Francis has been sent or that purpose) I Francis can change the institution he leads! that won't be socialismH it will be a miracle)