The Pontiff, pulling no punches, joins the Occupy Movement

December 2011: 'Occupy group' takes 'golden calf' to Congress

Two years ago, Occupy Wall Street (OWS) rose up in solidarity against the flagrant economic inequality in this country: 99% of us being squeezed out by the 1% of corporate  plunderers and  greedy super rich.

Now Pope Francis has stepped up to join the fray, constructively breaking all the rules of popery. Not only has he faulted the Catholic church for its negative obsession with gays and birth control, but now he has expanded his mandate to economics with a groundbreaking screed denouncing "the new idolatry of money". 




The pontiff is pulling no punches: In his "apostolic exhortation," he writes:

"The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings."

His thoughts on income inequality are searing:

"How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality."

Isn’t it time we join with the pope, adding our voices to his, demanding that we rise up against the idolatry of money and an impersonal, corporate economy devoid of compassion and human purpose.

Isn’t time we  rise up together and slay the golden calf?