OPINION:
Pope Francis kicked off a weekslong gathering in Rome aimed at charting the future course of the Catholic Church by denouncing America for an “irresponsible” lifestyle that is contributing to the climate change-tied demise of the world.
Communists must love this guy. And the feeling may flow both ways.
“When It Comes to China, Pope Francis Keeps Criticism in Check,” The New York Times reported earlier this month.
In other words: When it comes to China’s refusal to participate in climate change controls that would limit its own nation’s ability to produce and grow, the pope’s largely mum. But on America?
“If we consider that emissions per individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about seven times greater than the average of the poorest countries, we can state that a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact,” Francis wrote in an exhortation cited by MSN.com.
Snap, America.
America’s to blame.
Such goes the needling narrative of Pope Francis, who’s been taking deep dives against America for a host of reasons, including its free market ways — including its once-upon-a-time border controlling ways — for years and years.
But.
Still.
At the same time, consider this: America is one of the most prosperous countries in the world, providing material and charitable and financial grant assistance to, oh, now let’s see, pretty much everybody and anybody around the globe. Cut America’s production — force a ridiculous net-zero emission standard on America’s manufacturers and energy providers — and the world grows poorer.
The world’s citizens grow hungrier and colder.
The pope’s latest scolding of Western ways is hardly surprising.
Francis has a long and illustrious habit of putting communists above capitalists, and in some cases, in some shocking cases — above the church itself.
“In 2018,” as The Times wrote, “Francis, seeking more access to China, made a largely secretive deal with the [CCP] government to ensure more collaboration over the nomination of bishops. The pope typically appoints bishops, but the communist government has long insisted on naming its own to more closely control the state-run church there. China has already violated the agreement by unilaterally making appointments.”
That’s so China can make sure the Catholic faith within its communist borders is largely devoid of the faith. Communism, after all, cannot coexist with God; communists want to become the god of the people, so they have to make sure any religion within their areas of control is, well, controlled.
That the pope would play into these communist designs, at the same time denouncing free market models, is more than curious. It’s illustrative of the church leader’s embrace, no matter how lightly, of a form of politics that is tantamount to tyranny. What Francis ought to be doing is condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of 12 million or so Uyghurs.
“Human rights groups believe China has detained more than one million Uyghurs against their will over the past few years in a large network of what the state calls ‘re-education camps,’ and sentenced hundreds of thousands to prison terms,” BBC wrote in May of 2022.
What he’s instead doing is decrying an American system that allows for entrepreneurial creation and free market individualism, and whether by personal design or unintended consequence, propping up a very anti-America, anti-liberty form of government: collectivism.
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
China’s communists, working within the confines of their closed society, take care of the first two commands; the pope’s got the third, it seems.
America already has a weak leader in the White House who’s letting the Chinese advance a dangerous communist influence around the world.
What’s not needed is a Catholic Church leader doing the same.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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