How/Why did the Catholic Church move from burning heretics to pachamama and social justice?

Inkfingers said:

I think that the question is fairly self-evident...

Does anyone have any answers to this (please, no out-right anti-Catholicism and the like, as I'm looking to see how the change occurred and not just to unleash a load of "POPERY!!!!!!" type comments)?

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I didn't read the other posts yet. So I'm sorry if I am dropping this in the middle of a conversation.

I had to study church history once upon a time. This is partly from my studies and partly conjecture. So, Catholicism was once anti-capitalism. This is one of the reasons the Kingdom of Spain lost its world power status back in the day and the British Empire prospered. Power shifted west. England and heavily westernized colonies in America embraced capitalism and therefore prosperity.

I don't remember why ancient Catholicism was against capitalism- they linked it with being against the Bible somehow. So traditionally Catholic/Spanish influenced regions suffered with a lack of capitalism making/keeping them poor. The poor turn to social justice. So some Catholics regions of the world tend to be associated with social justice. I had to write a paper on liberation theology in South America once. The research was very interesting. Many still do not associate prosperity with capitalism, which isn't perfect but it is not against the Bible.

HappyHope said:

I don't remember why ancient Catholicism was against capitalism

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Very interesting post. I'm no expert on this, but in my reading of the old Catholic saints there frequently was an embracing of suffering. More than just accepting it as an irreducible part of the Christian life, they seemed to actually pursue it as a virtue, as an intentional mortification of the body. As such, perhaps capitalism, with its focus on maximum good to the most people, was seen to be worldly in nature.

paul1149 said:

Very interesting post. I'm no expert on this, but in my reading of the old Catholic saints there frequently was an embracing of suffering. More than just accepting it as an irreducible part of the Christian life, they seemed to actually pursue it as a virtue, as an intentional mortification of the body. As such, perhaps capitalism, with its focus on maximum good to the most people, was seen to be worldly in nature.

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The Christian Church has always maintained the virtues of Christ's teachings and commandments; the blind pursuit of wealth and power, especially for the sake of wealth and power, has always been contrary to Christian moral teaching.

Being in a position of power isn't itself wrong; neither is having material possessions wrong.

But, as the Scriptures themselves teach very clearly, "the love of money is the root of all evil".

Systems that encourage greed, power-grabbing, and the explicit or implicit use of violence (especially against the least of these) has always been antithetical to the Christian way.

Has this moral teaching always been consistent at the practical level? Well no. It's pretty obvious that at many times and in many places in the history of the Church that men have abused power, have sought wealth. Indeed, the problems of simony and nepotism in the middle ages within the Western Church is infamous. The corrupting influence of power and wealth can be seen in the flagrant ecclesiastical abuses that existed, which were very often the catalyst for various reform movements. And these were also some of the catalysts that helped lead to the Protestant Reformation. Though where other reform movements were largely only concerned with addressing these ecclesiastical abuses, Luther believed that reform had to go deeper, that the heart of the problem wasn't simply moral and practical, but was theological. Merely bandaging the surface wounds wouldn't be enough, addressing the theological heart-wound was needed.

A system that oppresses the poor and rewards avarice is, pretty obviously, contrary to Christian faith and teaching. The ancients knew this, and we should know better today.

-CryptoLutheran

Inkfingers said:

I think that the question is fairly self-evident...

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Hello Inkfingers. Interesting Q. During the days of the Inquisition and the Albigensian Crusade for example, people lost their lives due to the activities of the RCC, some perhaps for less than that which occurred with the 'Pachamama'.

Perhaps the answer is that the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church change over time?

If the word of God is not the foundation then there isn't a foundation. God Bless