Pope Francis has acknowledged that he has neglected the middle class and its problems.
On a plane on his return to Europe from a three-nation South American visit, Pope Francis was asked by a reporter why he had hardly ever spoken about the problems of the “working, tax-paying” middle class.
Francis offered a rare papal mea culpa, thanking the reporter for his “good correction”.
“You’re right. It’s an error of mine not to think about this,” he said.
“The world is polarised. The middle class becomes smaller. The polarisation between the rich and poor is big. This is true. And, perhaps this has led me to not take account of this (the problems of the middle class),” he said.
Francis said he spoke about the poor often because they were so numerous.
But he noted that ordinary working people had “great value”.
“I think you’re telling me about something I need to do. I need to do delve further into this . . . ,” he said
The Pope is due to visit Cuba and the United States in September.
On the papal plane, he said he was willing to have a dialogue with Americans who have seen his criticism of the global economic system and capitalism as an attack on their way of life.
Asked about the Greek crisis, he said “it would be too simple to say that the fault is only on one side”.
“I hope that they find a way to resolve the Greek problem and also a way to have oversight so that the same problem will not fall on other countries.
“This will help us move forward because this path of loans and debts, in the end, it never ends.”
Sources