Pope Francis championed the poor while favoring ideas that keep them poor

See The Legacy of Pope Francis, 1936-2025. WSJ editorial. Excerpts:

"In one of his first writings as pope, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis cited air conditioning as an example of the “harmful habits of consumption” that will lead to mankind’s self-destruction. He didn’t seem to realize that escaping poverty requires greater energy consumption.

His papacy was marked by anti-Americanism, and not merely against Donald Trump. He seemed to believe that Latin America is poor because the United States is rich. That’s a recipe for stagnation and despair because the real reasons so many in Latin America languish in poverty are at home: Lack of the rule of law, business-government collusion, protectionism, and other barriers to human flourishing."

"Argentina for much of his life was dominated by Peronism, a brand of left-wing populism named for Argentine President Juan Peron. When Bergoglio looked around, he saw corruption and the rich doing very well as their fellow countrymen languished in poverty. Perhaps it was understandable that he confused Argentina’s corporatism with capitalism."

"The irony is that this progressivism is most popular in places like Europe where the Sunday pews are empty."

Related post:

Pope Francis on economics and the environment My own article on how wrong the pope was on those issues