Pope Leo recently criticized the unfair distribution of wealth and name-dropped Elon Musk as one of those responsible.
He was interviewing for a biography
The first American pontiff spoke about the matter in a recent interview with Crux for an upcoming biography.
He discussed multiple topics including his role as the Pope as well as advocating for peace and equality.
He was asked about current world issues
When asked about the current polarization faced by the world, Pope Leo said, “I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I certainly see the reality in some of the results.”
He suggested that one significant factor ‘is the continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive.’
Pope Leo mentioned the difference in incomes
“For example, CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it’s 600 times more than what average workers are receiving,” Pope Leo added.
He then specifically mentioned Elon Musk
Pope Leo went on, “Yesterday the news [said] that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world.”
“What does that mean and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble.”
Many online were happy to see the Pope’s views
Over on social media, users were happy to learn about the Pope’s views on unfair wealth distribution
One person wrote, “An encouraging sign that Pope Leo is taking up the mantle from Pope Francis as the world’s moral conscience – singling out the compensation package of oligarchs like Musk.”
Some started questioning how such wealth could be good
Another person wrote on X, “At a certain point the question needs to be asked. How much wealth should a single person have?”
A third echoed, “How can ANYONE (besides other wannabe trillionaires) think that this is a good thing for our society? That ONE MAN should hoard this much wealth while children in his own country, state, city starve & are homeless?”
Others weren’t on board with his views
While many were happy to hear the Pope’s stance on equality when it came to wealth, others weren’t on board with the statement. One person wrote, “One woke pope after another.”