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The idolatry of Wealth
“You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” (Lk 12:20)
This Sunday’s readings invite us to have a proper perspective and attitude toward our possessions, which in turn will have direct ramifications in our relationship with God and with one another.
Pope Francis provoked an intense debate through his strong criticism of the current state of economic welfare, in which some privileged groups are untouchable, while many are disposable, excluded, and outcast. In criticizing the “trickle-down theories” of economic growth and the “new tyranny” of “absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation” that lead to a “new idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose,” he reminds us and the rest of the world of the duty for fair economic participation of all and a particular concern for the poorest among us. Our secular materialistic culture has deadened our sensitivities to the cry of the poor, he points out.
Pope Francis states: “To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase; and in the meantime, all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us” (Evangelii Gaudium 54).Critics have pounced on certain phrases in the Encyclical, most notably his criticism of unregulated free markets and unequal distribution of income. I think it behooves us to delve into the text of the Gospel and to the social doctrine of the Church for a fuller understanding. For clarification, Pope Francis is not opposed to capitalism; he is opposed to crony capitalism, which is characterized as excessive or predominant influence and interference of the economic sphere by a powerful elite (oligarchy). In this system, markets exist but are not free and are largely manipulated by an elite.
Pope Francis is not against inequality per se; he is against unjust inequality. These are distinctions with significant differences. “The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich” (St. Ambrose). The right of private property may never be exercised to the detriment of the common good (Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 22-25). The Gospel’s message is for everyone, the Gospel does not condemn the wealthy, but the idolatry of wealth, the idolatry that makes people indifferent to the call of the poor. Pope Francis envisions a Church which “is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and clinging to its own security” (Evangelii Gaudium 49). Having received God’s liberating grace, we are freed from self-absorption and greed and learn to love without the wanting of reciprocated love.
Fr. Paul D. Lee