In a key passage, the encyclical says: "The conviction that the economy must be autonomous, that it must be shielded from 'influences' of a moral character, has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way. In the long term, these convictions have led to economic, social and political systems that trample upon personal and social freedom, and are therefore unable to deliver the justice that they promise."This is not especially new; popes have been issuing similar encyclicals on economics for a hundred years. Of course, they are always careful to spend a great deal of effort to distance themselves from socialists, which is as cute as that little hat on the pope's head, but whatever gets the job done.Then in an unequivocal critique of unbridled markets, the pope writes that "grave imbalances are produced when economic action, conceived merely as an engine for wealth creation, is detached from political action, conceived as a means for pursuing justice through redistribution."
There's nothing in it about abortion, though, so no one in the American press, whether mainstream or the important "liberal" outlets, will pay much attention.
