Business Insider posted the key points from the Pope's critique of capitalism:
On the importance of remembering those who are less fortunate:
"We can only praise the steps being taken to improve people’s welfare
in areas such as health care, education and communications. At the same
time we have to remember that the majority of our contemporaries are
barely living from day to day, with dire consequences."
On the seriousness of economic exclusion:
"Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit in
order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say
'thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an
economy kills."
On the failure of traditional economic dogmas:
"... some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume
that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably
succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the
world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts,
expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding
economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic
system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting."
On exploding inequality:
"While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is
the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those
happy few."
On the world's obsession with money: "We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35)
has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and
the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human
purpose."
On the dangerous mix of inequality and consumerism: "It is evident that unbridled consumerism combined with inequality proves doubly damaging to the social fabric."
On the role of the state in providing for the common good and regulating the economy:
"This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute
autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently,
they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common
good, to exercise any form of control. "
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-pope-on-the-financial-system-inequality-money-2013-11#ixzz2lttOyn6a
This was part of his Evangelii Gaudium, full text here
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