Forum Post: I call all the 70 million Catholics in United States to join this OWS movement!

I'm a Catholic, I'm from an Irish family, and I would like to call all the 70 million Catholics in the United States to join this beautiful movement for democracy and social justice that is OccupyWallStreet!

No matter if you are from an Irish family, Italian family, Polish family, Puerto Rican family, Mexican family, Filipino family or any other ethnic origin, if you are a real Catholic you should join this movement for democracy and social justice!

Just read what Pope John XXIII wrote on the encyclical "Mater et Magistra" in 1961 and what Pope Paul VI wrote on the encyclical "Populorum progressio" in 1967:

"They concern first of all the question of work, which must be regarded not merely as a commodity, but as a specifically human activity. In the majority of cases a man's work is his sole means of livelihood. Its remuneration, therefore, cannot be made to depend on the state of the market. It must be determined by the laws of justice and equity. Any other procedure would be a clear violation of justice" (Mater et Magistra)

"As for the State, its whole raison d'etre is the realization of the common good in the temporal order. It cannot, therefore, hold aloof from economic matters. On the contrary, it must do all in its power to promote the production of a sufficient supply of material goods, "the use of which is necessary for the practice of virtue." (7) It has also the duty to protect the rights of all its people, and particularly of its weaker members, the workers, women and children. It can never be right for the State to shirk its obligation of working actively for the betterment of the condition of the workingman." (Mater et Magistra)

"It is furthermore the duty of the State to ensure that terms of employment are regulated in accordance with justice and equity, and to safeguard the human dignity of workers by making sure that they are not required to work in an environment which may prove harmful to their material and spiritual interests." (Mater et Magistra)

"Concerning the use of material goods, Our Predecessor declared that the right of every man to use these for his own sustenance is prior to every other economic right, even that of private property." (Mater et Magistra)

"In the social field we have the development of social insurance and, in the more economically advanced communities, the introduction of social security systems. Men in labor unions are showing a more responsible awareness of the major social and economic problems. There is a progressive improvement in basic education, a wider distribution of essential commodities" (Mater et Magistra)

"We therefore consider it Our duty to reaffirm that the remuneration of work is not something that can be left to the laws of the marketplace; nor should it be a decision left to the will of the more powerful. It must be determined in accordance with justice and equity; which means that workers must be paid a wage which allows them to live a truly human life and to fulfill their family obligations in a worthy manner." (Mater et Magistra)

No one may appropriate surplus goods solely for his own private use when others lack the bare necessities of life. In short, "as the Fathers of the Church and other eminent theologians tell us, the right of private property may never be exercised to the detriment of the common good." When "private gain and basic community needs conflict with one another," it is for the public authorities "to seek a solution to these questions, with the active involvement of individual citizens and social groups (Populorum progressio)

"Individual initiative alone and the interplay of competition will not ensure satisfactory development. We cannot proceed to increase the wealth and power of the rich while we entrench the needy in their poverty and add to the woes of the oppressed. Organized programs are necessary for "directing, stimulating, coordinating, supplying and integrating" (35) the work of individuals and intermediary organizations." (Populorum progressio)

I am a successful internet entrepreneur, I created some successful websites, I have a nice house and a nice car. But as a Catholic, I must fight this unfair and anti-Christian system, where greed reigns and many human beings are deprived from their basic needs.