#popefrancis

faab64@diasp.org

Catholic clergy in #Portugal have abused nearly 5,000 children since 1950, an independent commission said on Monday after hearing hundreds of victims' accounts.

📑 Thousands of reports of #paedophilia within the #CatholicChurch have surfaced around the world and #PopeFrancis is under pressure to tackle the scandal.

✝ The Portuguese inquiry, commissioned by the #Church in the staunchly #Catholic country, published its findings after hearing from more than 500 victims last year.

🗨️ "The report published today expresses a hard and tragic reality. We however believe that change is under way," said the head of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, Bishop Jose Ornelas.
#Religion #CrimeSyndicate

dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com

$600 checks are a “crime,” says the pope’s favorite economist

I've only recently discovered Mariana Mazzucato, who seems to be establishing herself as a celebrity economist these days. She also has a fan in Pope Francis:

A conversation with economist Mariana Mazzucato on the case against Scroogenomics

... I sat down, virtually, with the brilliant economist Mariana Mazzucato to talk about the relief plan and the problem underlying it: a loss of faith in government action that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: People don’t believe in government action, so government isn’t empowered to act, so people believe less and less in government.

Mariana was recently name-checked by Pope Francis as his favorite economist (along with Kate Raworth). No big deal, right? Mariana teaches at University College London. She’s written important books like The Entrepreneurial State and The Value of Everything, making a case for rewriting some of the basic thinking of economics. And she is a rare instance of a scholar who follows her work out into the world, helping policymakers implement her theories. There is much to learn from her.

On the just-passed US COVID relief package:

MARIANA: A one-time check of $600 is nowhere enough, for three reasons.

First, for the citizens in question, this amount will simply not be enough to allow people to access their basic human rights to food, shelter, and caring for their loved ones.

Second, the economy will not benefit by this meager relief. As Keynes taught us, boosting aggregate demand is critical for economic growth. Given the dire situation on disposable income, this relief will not help the economy get back on its feet.

Third, the money does exist: the government has simply decided to spend it elsewhere: for example, on corporate bailouts and defense spending.

It’s a crime and should be rectified as soon as possible. And if America truly wants to “lead” the world, then match the relief packages in other countries.

ANAND: I recently discovered that Pope Francis has a favorite economist — and it's you. What is it like being the pope's favorite economist [as he disclosed in his new book, “Let Us Dream”]?

MARIANA: As a very unreligious person, it feels great but uncomfortable. The funny thing is, he actually read my book a year ago and wrote an open letter in Argentina saying capitalism is screwed, but there's a book that tells us what to do. The Vatican, in some ways, has been talking about the common good for a long time. But there's no real equivalent for that concept in economics. ...

https://the.ink/p/austerity

I'd argue that the concept exists, but is largely ignored, and is hard to measure: commonweal and social welfare.

Despite misgivings about the institution myself, I like this Pappa, and have for a while.

#MarianaMazzucato #PopeFrancis #economics #austerity #Covid19 #CovidRelief #CommonWeal

dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com

Pope Francis Laments Failures Of Market Capitalism In Blueprint For Post-COVID World

... Its title is Fratelli Tutti, and it is a scathing description of laissez-faire capitalism and a meditation on the coronavirus pandemic that has swept across the globe. ...

Picking up on some of his favorite themes, Francis says the marketplace cannot resolve every problem and denounces what he describes as "this dogma of neo-liberal faith that resorts to the magic theories of spillover or trickle." ...

"Every brother or sister in need, when abandoned or ignored by the society in which I live, becomes an existential foreigner, even though born in the same country. They may be citizens with full rights, yet they are treated like foreigners in their own country. Racism is a virus that quickly mutates and, instead of disappearing, goes into hiding, and lurks in waiting."

The encyclical is a sharp critique of nationalism and populism. In one section, he warns against "unhealthy 'populism' when individuals are able to exploit politically a people's culture, under whatever ideological banner, for their own personal advantage or continuing grip on power." ...

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/04/920053203/pope-francis-laments-failures-of-market-capitalism-in-blueprint-for-post-covid-w

#PopeFrancis #capitalism #LaissezFaire #encyclical #CatholicChurch #fraternity #commonweal

dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com

Francis, The Papacy, The Poor, and Social Justice

"I like this Pope" is a phrase I've seen repeatedly concerning Pope Francis, quite notably from non-Catholics, non-Christians, and even numerous atheists. Its opposite has crossed the lips of a number of conservatives, including many of religious persuasions.

I'm among the atheists who like this Pope. And while I'm no scholar of the Vatican or Papal doctrine, it seems that he's proving new ground in social justice. A recent reddit discussion prompted me to take a closer look

Francis's emphasis on social justice and direct action to assist the poor, is absolutely unprecedented in over 200 years....

Continued at the dreddit.

http://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/258gq1/francis_the_papacy_the_poor_and_social_justice/

#poverty #popefrancis #catholicism #socialjustice #inequality #redistribution #papcy #poor