In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis strongly criticized leaders who take advantage of others in the workplace.
POPE FRANCIS
“Woe to you who exploit others and their work by evading taxes, not contributing to their pension funds, and not giving them paid vacation. Woe to you!... “Discounting,” not paying what's owed, is a sin.”
The pope reflected on connection to riches, reminding and warning they can either take away one's freedom or be a source of life if used generously and responsibly.
EXCERPTS FROM THE POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Media)
“'Woe to you who are rich.' If someone today were to preach these words, the media the next day would write: ‘That priest is a communist.’ But poverty is at the center of the Gospel. Preaching about poverty is at the heart of Jesus’ message: ‘Blessed are the poor’ is the first of the Beatitudes. It is the identity card with which Jesus presents himself in the Synagogue when he returns to his town of Nazareth. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.’ But we have historically given in to the weakness of not preaching about poverty, believing it to be a social or political question. No! It is the Gospel, pure and simple.”
“Even here in Italy people are left without a job in order to preserve capital investments. This goes against the second commandment, so: ‘Woe to you’, Jesus warns. Woe to you who exploit others and their work by evading taxes, not contributing to their pension funds, and not giving them paid vacation. Woe to you!... “Discounting,” not paying what's owed, is a sin. You are not in God’s grace. It’s not I who say it, but Jesus and James the Apostle. That’s why riches keep you from observing the second commandment, which is love for your neighbor.”
“You are not free regarding riches. To be free regarding riches you must distance yourself from them and pray to the Lord. If the Lord has given you riches, they are to be given away, in order to do many good things for others in His name. But riches often seduce us, and falling into this seduction, we are made slaves to them.”
