Regarding “Global authority for finances?” (CR, Oct. 27) it is startling to see just what is being proposed by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: a centralized world political authority to regulate all world economies and to deal with world “peace and security, disarmament and arms control, protection of human rights, and management of migration flows and food security.” This is socialism and ultimately totalitarianism.
These proposals violate church teachings. Four encyclicals – including Blessed John Paul II’s “Quadragesimo Anno” – taught the principle of subsidiarity and condemned socialism. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states ((#2429) that “everyone has the right of economic initiative … and to harvest the just fruits of his labor”. Most importantly, John Paul called for a strong moral culture, one that recognizes God and recognizes, from a theistic point of view, the importance of the person and personal freedom.
It is also important to read Saul Alinsky’s book, “Rules for Radicals,” an atheist blueprint for implementing socialism and getting centralized control of the lives of others. Alinsky taught his students (whom, he said, included priests, blacks, Hispanics, philosophers, and others from all walks of life) that the end justifies the means. He said that “you do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments.” It is necessary to beware always of the use of “moral garments” (“peace and security,” “common good” etc.).