Protesters urged Pope Francis to draw the connection between the oppression of women within the church and violence against women in the world. Doing so would heal "hundreds, thousands of years of misogyny."
Rev. Roy Bourgeois reminded people that the Catholic Church is a patriarchy and described the treatment of women as not "heavy theology," but an obvious case of discrimination. He compared "the treatment of women in the church to black parishioners being confined to the back five pews of his childhood church. 'Sexism, like racism, is a sin.'"
Capitalism, Poverty, Taking Advantage of People and Planet
Pope Francis has been outspoken in his criticism of capitalism during his tenure. Some have even seen him as an anti-capitalist, but in Washington, DC he toned down his criticism, sounded like an advocate of capitalism and urged reforms to protect the people and planet from its ravages. At the UN he criticized "selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity," leading to "both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged." He criticized an economic system that has led to millions living in poverty, and described it as "a grave offense against human rights and the environment."
Pope Francis criticized international financial agencies, which subject countries to "oppressive lending systems." Far from promoting progress, he said, the terms of those arrangements "generate greater poverty, exclusion and dependence."
These criticisms come at a time when corporations are sitting on $15 trillion in cash while austerity is demanded by bankers to take away the safety net of poor and working people. Around the world there are economic stagnation and fragile economies on the brink of recession or trying to get out of recession, yet corporations and wealthy individuals are hoarding their wealth arrogantly ignoring widespread suffering. An example is 32-year-old hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli's move to raise the price of a life-saving medication from $13.50 a pill to $700.
Pope Francis has called for a "poor church for the poor" and yet it is one of the wealthiest institutions on the planet. Critics point to his massive security detail, private plans and expensive cars as he travels throughout the United States. The author of the Matrix, John Rappaport, urges the pope to look inward at the churches finances, audit them and determine what the Catholic Church could do to redistribute wealth and end poverty.
Recognition of Activists
Pope Francis built his speech to Congress around three activists and President Lincoln. The three activists were the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. This shows the pope recognizes where change comes from. While the pope is imperfect in his call for justice, he has certainly moved conversations on a range of issues forward unlike previous popes.
The social movement for environmental, racial and economic justice is building a new world with an economy designed for all, not the wealthiest, and with governing structures at all levels of government that allow greater participation by all, including direct democracy and democracy included in the basic aspects of our lives like worker management of the workplace. We must build unity around our values; the revolution of values is at the heart of our advocacy.
There is a moral imperative to our activism as we must act in the face of injustice. Values are not defined only by religious leaders but by each of us. Jose Mujica, the Former President Of Uruguay began his political life as a guerilla fighter against dictatorship. In an interview he describes what makes us human. He talks about understanding the suffering of others, responding to their injustice and living humbly so all can live decently.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King called for a revolution of values saying:
"A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. " A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say, "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just."
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