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Socio-Political Issues
A New ‘Inalienable Right’ of Man
Margaret C. Galitzin
A friend pointed out to me that the controversy over condoms has overshadowed another extraordinary thing Benedict XVI recently said. “The Pope is essentially advocating Socialism, and no one blinks an eye,” she noted with indignation
She was referring to Benedict XVI’s letter to the annual conference of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry held at the Vatican November 18-19. In it, he declared adequate medical attention is an ”inalienable rights” of man. Returning to his Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, which was the theme of the conference, he lamented the great inequalities around the world and stressed the importance of distributive and social justice that guarantees adequate care to all.
Benedict's message bolsters Obama's unpopular universal health care plan |
The papal statement was read by Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who subsequently delivered a speech. In it he was even more explicit than was the Pontiff. "Justice requires guaranteed universal access to health care," Bertone said. And he added that the provision of minimal levels of medical attention to all is "commonly accepted as a fundamental human right."
Universal health care for all citizens is being preached by the leadership of the Catholic Church. Regardless of social and economic status or their ability to pay, it is affirmed that everyone – senator and man of the street, rich and poor, citizen or alien would have a “right” to health care.
Per se, this proposal of health care as a “right” does not coincide with the Church teaching. As far as I remember from my catechism classes and the parable of the Good Samaritan, we all should treat those in need with charity. It is a moral obligation for each of us, and we will give an account of our actions before God. But this moral obligation does not translate into a “civil right” for the poor to demand receiving heath treatment.
This position of Benedict XVI and its development by his Secretary of State sound like a part of the platform of a socialist party candidate.
As for the timing of the message, it could not be more opportune to support the socialist platform. It comes when conservatives in the United States and England are challenging the programs that are expanding government control and increasing the spending of nonexistent money.
JPII and Benedict endorsed the ideals of the UN
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Here in the United State, for example, the majority of conservative and traditionalist Catholics are working to repeal ObamaCare, the disastrous universal health care program being foisted on the people. The Pope’s letter supports the socialist thesis that it is the responsibility of governments to provide universal health care. His message certainly supports the generally liberal social policies of the Bishops Conference. It just as surely opposes anti-Communist positions of Catholic conservatives and traditionalists.
For those who have been following Benedict’s policies since he assumed the papacy, this inclusion of universal health care as an inalienable right actually comes as no surprise. We have already seen his speech favoring the UN and its Universal Declaration of Human Rights, his support for the more radical elements of the green platform, his statements affirming religious liberty, his lamentations of inequalities between the rich and poor nations, criticisms of capitalism, and so on.
In his social Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, issued in June 2009, he established the lines he followed in his recent message to the Pontifical Council for Health Care. I do not know many persons who have plowed through that 30,000-word encyclical, but it behooves us to know what is in it. I suggest the uninformed read the succinct, incisive review by Atila Guimaraes here.
Guimaraes rightly concludes that with this encyclical, Benedict shows himself willing to play a leading role in promoting the Revolution and to bolster the flagging program of those who desire the Masonic One World Government.
Like his predecessors, at every opportunity Benedict XVI speaks about the rights and dignity of the human person, ignoring the rights of God and the truth. Instead of fighting Communism – as the Church always did before Vatican II – the post-conciliar Popes have promoted its errors and effectively placed the Papacy in the service of the enemies of the Church.
The progressivist character of Pope Ratzinger is becoming increasingly clear. The position of those self-blinded Catholics who want to believe that the Pope is conservative is coming close to being an unsustainable idea.
At Fatima Our Lady warned us that Communism would spread its errors throughout the world. Only the foolish today imagine Communism has died, as we see new versions of the same deadly disease showing their face and infecting both the East and the West. Can anyone pretend that Benedict XVI is taking the Fatima message seriously or has any aim to address its message when he brazenly supports and promotes the errors of Communism? Let us have the courage to face the facts.
Posted December 6, 2010
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