Socialist Pope?

After reading about the brand spankin' new deadly sins, what I want to know is when the armed revolutionaries are going to be allowed to storm the Vatican. According to the report, "being obscenely rich" is now a harbinger of eternal damnation. Well, unless you buy enough plenary indulgences or some such to get you out of dutch. And if one were obscenely rich that would ostensibly not be a problem.

So what qualifies as "obscenely rich"? If you roll around in a bulletproof Mercedes (or Rolls, or Bentley or whatever the Popemobile happens to be these days), doesn't that kind of put you in the position of being materially better off than most of the rest of the world? I doubt that the Vatican is lacking in priceless assets. Seems a little odd to be throwing stones when you live in a very lovely glass house. Not to mention the juxtaposition of the condemnation of wealth with the commoditization of absolution.

To be fair, since I have not read the original edict from Rome, I would hope that the type of "obscene" wealth in question is limited to what the article mentions in passing - that which is gained nefariously and at the expense of others. That is a grave sin indeed. But simply condemning wealth for wealth's sake is not a prudent thing to do. There are plenty of rich people who have come by their fortunes legitimately - either through inheritance or good old fashioned hard work. The issue that those fortunate individuals must wrestle with is not letting God's material blessings become their god. You can't serve two masters after all.

Most likely, I will never be obscenely rich. I doubt I will ever even qualify for mildly profane. And that's okay, because the Lord has always provided above and beyond my needs and has promised that, like the birds of the air or the lilies of the field, everything needful will be given. Showing love to one's less fortunate neighbor through charity, goodwill, and defense of the defenseless should be a part of the life of the Christian, in response to the mercy that has been shown unto him. In contrast, pursuing "social justice" by blanketly disparaging all wealthy people is Robin Hoodery run amok. It's that kind of thinking that brought this world Marx, Stalin, and Castro. Social justice is a pretty phrase, but it has a way of escaping the noble intentions of its users and converting itself into an argument against the "opiate of the masses."