Just stop?

Pope Benedict - denounced capitalism and Marxism. Attacked the inequities between rich and poor.

But even Pope John Paul II had issues with capitalism, even as he was staunchly anti-Communist:

The point of departure for much of the 25,000-word document is the collapse of Communism in Pope John Paul II’s native Poland and other Eastern European countries and the moral and philosophical lessons that those events hold for rebuilding the economies of Eastern Europe and confronting economic inequities throughout the world. ‘Human Needs’ Beyond Market

“The free market is the most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs,” the Pope said. “But there are many human needs which find no place on the market,” he immediately added, and many people without the purchasing power to meet their needs through the market. [ Excerpts, page A10. ]

Posing the question whether, “after the failure of Communism,” the market economy should be the goal of Eastern European and third-world countries, the Pope said, “The answer is obviously complex.”

“If by ‘capitalism’ is meant an economic system which recognizes the fundamental and positive role of business, the market, private property and the resulting responsibility” and creativity, “then the answer is certainly yes,” he said.

But if capitalism means an economic system not firmly circumscribed by a framework of laws and rights and an “ethical and religious” understanding of human freedom, “then the reply is certainly negative,” the Pope said.

The encyclical was issued to mark the 100th anniversary of an encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, “Rerum Novarum” (“Of New Things”), which addressed the impoverished conditions of the industrial working class at the end of the 19th century. “Rerum Novarum” is considered the beginning of official Catholic social teaching in the modern era.

Rush just needs to stop.

Capitalism isn’t perfect. Capitalism as preached by Rush and the other trickle downers isn’t perfect. It’s a policy that further concentrates wealth. Even Pope John Paul II saw that. Understood that. And criticized it.

Pope Francis isn’t breaking new ground here. He’s reaffirming the message that people come first, and that poverty is something that must be overcome, and until that can happen, people must do more to help those less fortunate.