Pope: Poor are sacrificed on 'the altar of money'

July 12, 2015 11:47

Pope Francis delivered yet another biting critique of contemporary capitalism on Saturday, saying the poor are often sacrificed on the "altar of money" and accusing the wealthy of worshipping a new "golden calf."

"Certainly every culture needs economic growth and the creation of wealth," the Pope told a group of civic leaders in Paraguay, the final stop of his weeklong trip to three South American countries. But political and business leaders have a responsibility to ensure that profits reach the pockets of the poor as well as the rich, he said.

"I ask them not to yield to an economic model which is idolatrous, which needs to sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit," Francis said.

Saturday's speech was neither as long nor as scathing as the sharp denunciation of modern capitalism the Pope delivered Thursday in Bolivia, in which he called the relentless pursuit of profits the "dung of the devil." Still, it had its share of rhetorical fire.

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