In an unscheduled appearance he made last week, Pope Francis declared that a “structure of sin” has led to the largest wealth gap in history, said the Rome Reports. This structure is made up of financial organizations, government, and policies including tax cuts and tax havens for the wealthy. Nevertheless, he remained optimistic about the matter saying that these are “solvable problems.”
In the meeting attended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Kristalina Georgiva and global economic officials, the Pope decried the existence of extreme wealth in light of extreme poverty. He said that such a wealth gap exists because “we have allowed” it to widen to the extent that it is now “the largest in history.”
The Holy Father also lambasted the privileges, such as welfare, enjoyed by a select few but should be accorded to all. He also said that tax cuts and havens are given to private and wealthy organizations in the guise of investment and development. According to the Daily Mail, the Pope emphasized “that hundreds of billions of dollars of taxes are not being paid, causing health care and education to suffer.”
In view of his criticisms of this so-called structure of sin, the Pope noted expressed hope for resolving the issue. The Daily Mail quoted him saying, “We are neither condemned to inequality nor to paralysis in the face of injustice.” In fact, he said that the problems are “solvable” as it is not due to “a lack of resources.”
He also implored the rich to act in order to address the problem. The Holy Father said, “The rich world and a prosperous economy can and must end poverty.”
