Need Clarification on the Pope's Encyclical

Not sure how many people are disturbed by the potential implications of the Pope of the Roman Catholic church taking a formal stance on how to fix a global economy but there were definitely parts of it that raised my eyebrows. The encyclical that he released this week seems to call for granting increased powers to worldy forces.

Is Pope Benedict really adovcating that some sort of world body like the U.N. be involved in fixing our economic woes?


How should we interpret this?

In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth.

Or this....

there is urgent need of a true world political authority

Or perhaps...

Such an authority would need to be regulated by law, to observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, to seek to establish the common good, and to make a commitment to securing authentic integral human development inspired by the values of charity in truth.

Regulated by law? Who's going to do the regulating? The United States is a nation of laws that its leaders don't seem to have to follow because they're not accountable to anyone. Imagine that on STEROIDS!

This struck me initially and personally as disconcerting...

Here is a link to the entire Encyclical

Bible Gateway has commentary on Revelation 13..

The apostle, standing on the shore, saw a savage beast rise out of the sea; a tyrannical, idolatrous, persecuting power, springing up out of the troubles which took place. It was a frightful monster! It appears to mean that worldly, oppressing dominion, which for many ages, even from the times of the Babylonish captivity, had been hostile to the church.

If the government of the most free nation in the history of the world (United States) can become corrupt and tyrannical, why on earth would anyone believe that a one-world governing authority wouldn't be much much worse?

Forgive me but hearing the Pope talk about a "family of nations" acquiring "real teeth" is a bit troubling.

Tom Petruno at L.A. Times has more...