WI the Catholic Church officially adopts the Prosperity Gospel

Thinking about this thread, I was vaguely remembering having read that Opus Dei was generally pro-"free market". A google on "Opus Dei economics" turned up a lot of subscription-walled stuff, but also an interview from the late '90s with a Spanish Misesian economist. An excerpt...

de SOTO: The Catholic church is like a huge transatlantic ocean liner. If you turn the wheel to the right, the boat moves slowly, slowly, and eventually begins to change direction.

There is a powerful Catholic group in Spain called Opus Dei. It is very close to the Pope and it is very pro-business. Someone in the order read the works of Hayek, saw him as very pro business, and sent out a message to the entire organization: Opus Dei should back the Austrians.

All of a sudden, all my books were being read by everyone in the order, and I began to lecture to their priests and members. In fact, I recently read a PhD thesis written on Mises and Hayek by a leading member of Opus Dei.


I think the fortunes of Opus Dei waver back and forth over time(I can't imagine the current JESUIT Pope is their biggest fan). Still, if there was any possible way for something like the Prosperity Gospel to take hold in the Church as a whole, it might be via that group. If you get another really pro-OD Pontiff, and the group goes whole-hog with preaching Austrian economics, and this drifts into the official doctrine(or at least rhetoric) coming out of Rome, it might be possible for a lumpenized version to trickle down to the masses, especially if there are already pockets of quasi-Prosperity Gospel operating in various rapidly-industrializaing countries.

I'd still put it as a long-shot, though. The worldwide demographics of Catholcism would have to change pretty drastically for the religious equivalent of Ayn Randism to become the standard catechism.

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NoMommsen

Donor
My problem : I can't really see a sound theological base for it at all with sooo much more evidence in the bible, that Jesus was the other way round, more on the lines of St.Francis of Assisi.
 
A good part of the Charismatic movement in the Philippines (I'm looking at you El Shaddai) is arguably Prosperity Gospel lite. Not to say it's a majority tendency by any means in Filipino Charismatic Catholicism, but it is there.

Isn't Charismatics usually Protestant converts to Catholicism?If so that kinda makes sense.
 
It seems very difficult for this to happen. The working priest movement is more likely to take off in the Church than Prosperity theology, and that's already a stretch.
 
Thinking about this thread, I was vaguely remembering having read that Opus Dei was generally pro-"free market". A google on "Opus Dei economics" turned up a lot of subscription-walled stuff, but also an interview from the late '90s with a Spanish Misesian economist. An excerpt...

de SOTO: The Catholic church is like a huge transatlantic ocean liner. If you turn the wheel to the right, the boat moves slowly, slowly, and eventually begins to change direction.

There is a powerful Catholic group in Spain called Opus Dei. It is very close to the Pope and it is very pro-business. Someone in the order read the works of Hayek, saw him as very pro business, and sent out a message to the entire organization: Opus Dei should back the Austrians.

All of a sudden, all my books were being read by everyone in the order, and I began to lecture to their priests and members. In fact, I recently read a PhD thesis written on Mises and Hayek by a leading member of Opus Dei.


I think the fortunes of Opus Dei waver back and forth over time(I can't imagine the current JESUIT Pope is their biggest fan). Still, if there was any possible way for something like the Prosperity Gospel to take hold in the Church as a whole, it might be via that group. If you get another really pro-OD Pontiff, and the group goes whole-hog with preaching Austrian economics, and this drifts into the official doctrine(or at least rhetoric) coming out of Rome, it might be possible for a lumpenized version to trickle down to the masses, especially if there are already pockets of quasi-Prosperity Gospel operating in various rapidly-industrializaing countries.

I'd still put it as a long-shot, though. The worldwide demographics of Catholcism would have to change pretty drastically for the religious equivalent of Ayn Randism to become the standard catechism.

link
Eh, not that simple. A lot of American ODs are sympathetic to free marketeers, but not all of them. And in Europe it is less so - most of the prominent ODs outside the US I know of are members of social democratic parties, albeit of the Tony Blair type. (Center right types tend to be Communion and Liberation). And Opus Dei was also close to Archbishop Romero, who happens IIRC to be a hero ot the reigning Pope.

What you'd need is an overweening American influence in the Church, and even that doesn't guarrantee anything.
 
The POD might have to be pre-1900, with finding a way for English speaking North America to be mostly Catholic, but still keep its particular culture, which of course is usually assumed to be heavily influenced by Calvinism.
 
Besides being heretical, the Prosperity Gospel treats God as you would a pagan deity. That kind of change would inevitably lead to the utter destruction of the Church as it is abandoned by Christians.
exactly the prosperity "gospel" is simply the worship of money and power , and a justification for maintaining the rich and powerful in their seats for ever. as a protestant I find it just as anti Christian as any catholic would. I also think its anti Islam, anti Jewish and anti any form of ethics and humanity. it means that charity, and the use of medicine to heal the sick are actually sins as those experiencing ills are doing so because they are not right with god. No where in any religion's holy texts or teachings other than in this sick philosophy are the values of cruelty and selfish indifference so exalted. Any church that endorses it is not a church, but rather a supporter of Ayn Rand.
It may succeed in this world but as a Christian I would admit to perhaps the unchristian thought of consigning them to the appropriate circle of hell in the next world. I am sure Dante could find a place for these preachers of selfishness and immorality.
 
Eh, not that simple. A lot of American ODs are sympathetic to free marketeers, but not all of them. And in Europe it is less so - most of the prominent ODs outside the US I know of are members of social democratic parties, albeit of the Tony Blair type. (Center right types tend to be Communion and Liberation). And Opus Dei was also close to Archbishop Romero, who happens IIRC to be a hero ot the reigning Pope.

What you'd need is an overweening American influence in the Church, and even that doesn't guarrantee anything.

Point taken. I was thinking more that it would be the MOST LIKELY way to get to the OP to happen, not a surefire. Opus Dei was one group that I have heard about embracing neo-liberal(as opposed to residual feudal) economics within Catholicism, but I can certainly believe that's not a uniform tendency within the group.

As for American influence, I think it would depend on which American Catholics we're talking about. The William F. Buckleys and Michael Novaks, maybe, but even they would probably consider outright Prosperity Gospel to be too declasse, if nothing else. And the Dorothy Days and Daniel Berrigans would obviously have nothing to do with it. Pat Buchanan might be a toss-up.
 
Agree with above. I am Catholic, in fact a priest. Quite simply, so much Papal teaching, from Leo XIII would have to be dumped - not going to happen.
Hi, Father? What parish? Not interested in stalking or anything (I live across the Pacific), just interested. Or just say what diocese.
 
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