The Pope Francis "ideologies"
Towards the last few pages of Pope Francis' first Papal Encyclical, entitled " LUMEN FIDEI", which means " Light of Faith", he wrote: " Faith is essential for the promotion of justice, law and peace, in contrast with failed ideologies that also claimed those goals. Of course, the ''failed ideologies'' must necessarily refer to unrestrained capitalism, with its too much stress on profits and the free markets where the strong and the rich exploit and oppress the poor and the powerless. It also refers to communism and socialism where the Party abuses its powers and terrorizes the capitalists, then arrogates unto the hands of ideologues the totalitarian powers of the State.
What Pope Francis therefore proposes, through the light of faith, is neither capitalism nor communism, but social justice. This was the same centrist ideology that Pope Leo XIII proposed in his RERUM NOVARUM as early in 1891. That historic document condemned the insatiable greed of the capitalists in dealing with the working class, and also rejected the terroristic solutions offered by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their COMMUNIST MANIFESTO.. Pope Francis' first encyclical also reminds us of Pope John Paul's " LABOREM EXCERCENS'' in 1981. in the occasion of Rerum Novarum's 90th anniversary. Pope Francis proposes that faith should lead people to promote social justice.
The Pope also declares that the Church should go out into the world and be directly involved in the struggles of the people. He wrote: " I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out into the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined (inside its comfort zones and ivory towers) and from clinging to its own security. I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center, and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures." Perhaps this is the reason why the Pope himself has decided to come to Tacloban and share the pains of God's people.
Another statement of faith that distinguishes Pope Francis from other leaders is the one by which he defined his perspective of what the Church should be like. He said: "The Church should be like a field hospital after a battle." This analogy could only mean that the Church should be a healing church. It must provide a cure to the thousands of ailments, social maladies, political cancers, and economic tumors that bring a lot of sufferings to the people. And the hospital must be right there in the battlefield, meaning it is accessible to the masses, not isolated. And the phrase '' after the battle'' means immediately after the problem, the solution should be available.
Lastly, Pope Francis rejects any economy of exclusion. He does not rejoice in high economic growth that does not trickle down to the poorest of the poor. He bewails any development that favors only the billionaires, progress that fattens the pockets of the taipans and tycoons but does not provide adequate safety nets for the most vulnerable sectors in society. If we read his writings and pronouncements accurately, this Pope is not impressed with towering skyscrapers alongside colonies, mansions in the center of squatters who have no decent homes, who feed on the leftovers thrown into garbage bins.
The ideologies of Pope Francis are also the teachings of Christ Himself. Whatever we do the least of His brethren is what we do to Him. And following that dictum makes us truly Christians, truly Catholics. A communion with the Vicar of Christ is what matters most.
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