Greed is a destructive ideology, Pope tells congregation

October 21, 2013

“When a person is attached to money, he destroys himself, he destroys the family,” Pope Francis warned a congregation at morning Mass on October 21.

Money is certainly useful, the Pontiff said, but the attachment to money and to material things that is destructive. “It’s not money, but the attitude: what we call greed.” He described greed as “an instrument of idolatry.”

The Pope pointed out that Jesus issues many strong warnings against attachment to money. The Lord contrasts the love of money with the humble acceptance of God’s will. The attachment to money, the Pope said, takes people on a “path contrary to the path of God.”

Poverty in itself is not good, any more than wealth is evil, the Pope continued. Rather, poverty is “an instrument”—a way of ensuring that “God may be God, so that He will be the only Lord,” and greed will not become a dominant force

 

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Further information:

• Pope Francis: Greed destroys people, families (Vatican Radio)