We have all been told that the worldwide Occupy movement is about economic equality and social justice. We have watched the massive protests, the 99% signs and heard the speeches crying out for government intervention in the financial market. Thirty-three percent of America supports the occupy movement, but many more have been suspicious of the movements connection to socialist organizations. Yet, the establishment media, and political leaders whitewash the radical actions and affiliations of the occupy movement and declare it a grassroots response to economic conditions.
The longer the movement last, the more we can see its true face as it reveals itself by its words, actions and those it chooses to affiliates with. While the movement economically aligns itself with socialist ideology, it now takes on another character associated with a communist or socialist agenda and that is an anti-religious, and in particular an anti-Christian hatred. The largest target of the movements anti-Christian hatred being the Catholic church.
ROME, Italy, October, 2011, Members of ‘Occupy Rome’ destroy a statue of the Virgin Mary on the streets while others cheer.
VANCOUVER, Canada, November 2, 2011, A group calling themselves ‘Occupy the Vatican’ attempted to disrupt a morning Mass at a Holy Rosary Catholic Cathedral. The group was halted by members of the Knights of Columbus and police.
SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts, December 01, 2011, Members of a Massachusetts Occupy movement harassed Pastor Scott Lively who operates an inner-city Christian mission with a group of well-organized protesters.
ROME, Italy, January 14, 2012, 50 Members of ‘Occupy the Vatican’ tried to set up tents and occupy St. Peter’s Square in protest of the Catholic church.
PROVIDENCE, RI, January 30, 2012, For the third time in a week, demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street movement threw condoms on Catholic schoolgirls, refused to allow a Catholic priest to pray, and shouted down a pro-life speaker at a Rhode Island right to life rally.
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 30, 2012, Occupy movement disrupts March for Life youth rally.
One reason the Occupy movement must attack Christian institutions in the same way it attacks financial institutions is because the teachings of the church are contrary to the ideology and agenda of the Occupy movement. Pope Pius XI (1922-1939), said it perfectly in his Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, May 15, 1931, n. 117 :
“..Whether considered as a doctrine, or an historical fact, or a movement, Socialism, if it remains truly Socialism, even after it has yielded to truth and justice on the points which we have mentioned, cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth.”
James Garton, who writes for Examiner.com on Atlantic City Catholicism, claims to prove that the Occupy movement is anti-Catholic:
I went to leave this reply to the article, but could not as it required a Facebook log in.
(While I am not “shy” in my opinions, I need to approach any Occupy affiliations with a certain ANONimity, and Facebook is working to destroy that.):
It is interesting how well Pope Benedict’s Message for World Day of Peace matches the stated goals of the Occupy movement.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20111208_xlv-world-day-peace_en.html
I agree that the frustration of the people of this world has resulted in some violence (I live near Oakland, CA, USA), but one can always find such examples in any movement that threatens the status quo (the USA civil rights movement, India’s freedom movement, the Free Tibet movement, etc.). In fact, I would say that it is the moral obligation of all members of the Catholic Church, as directed by his Holiness, to join their local Occupy and fight against the international Oligarchs. Catholic’s sense of none violence and social justice and help to drive this movement in good ways. Just as Dorothy Day did during the Great Depression or with the Migrant Farm Workers.
Feel free to pass this onward.
Socialism cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and neither can unbridled Capitalism, but needless to say the Occupy movement does not have an official economic theory to go with it. I think it is pretty obvious that Distributism best exemplifies the teachings of the Catholic Church, and based on what I’ve seen of Occupy it also best reconciles the diverse agendas that mix in Occupy. As to the anti-Christian/anti-Catholic views among Occupiers, that’s a real concern but the best response is for us Catholics who take our Church’s social teaching seriously to get out there and show the secular Occupiers that we are allies and that we have an intellectual heritage that might suit them better than the Socialism/Libertarianism dichotomy the post-Enlightment humanists give us.
Be sure to also check out this positive example of what Occupy Providence has been up to: http://occupycatholic.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/occupy-providence-helps-save-a-catholic-homeless-center/