Rabid Rush takes on 'Marxist' Pope Francis, Catholics fume

American talk show host and controversy magnet Rush Limbaugh has shocked the Catholic Church by accusing Pope Francis of preaching Marxism.

The Pope had recently raised eyebrows when he openly criticised the “unfettered capitalism” and “unjust socio-economic system” in the world.

Pope Francis, the first head of the Catholic Church from South America, made the comments in the Apostolic Exhortation, a form of Papal communication that is not considered the official doctrine of the church.

Pope Francis had outlined his vision for Church in the first written text of his papacy and said he was "open to suggestions" on how his role should change.

He had called for the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church and attacked unfettered capitalism as "a new tyranny," urging global leaders to fight poverty and growing inequality.

"I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security," he wrote.

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The Pope had called on rich people to share their wealth.

"Today, we also have to say 'thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses 2 points," he said.

Limbaugh lashed out at the Pope’s comments, saying, “This is just pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the Pope,” according to the Times.

“If he wants to portray himself as still from the streets where he came from, and is not anything special, not aristocratic; if he wants to eschew the physical trappings of the Vatican, okay, cool, fine. But this that I came across last night totally befuddled me,” the paper quoted the openly right-wing talk show host as saying.

Limbaugh is considered to be the most popular talk show host in the United States with an estimated 15 million listeners.

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“Unfettered capitalism? That doesn’t exist anywhere. Unfettered capitalism is a liberal, socialist phrase to describe the United States,” he reportedly said.

Limbaugh also accused the Pope of being political and speaking about things he had no idea about.

The Times quoted him as saying, “I have been to the Vatican numerous times. It wouldn’t exist without money -- tons of money.”

Limbaugh, at the last count, is openly against welfare to the African American community, the Barack Obama administration, feminism, contraceptives, abortion, investigation into abuse of prisoners at Abhu Ghraib, among others.

Of course, this is not the first time the rabidly conservative and borderline racist talk show host has managed to offend an entire community with his extreme comments.

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He infuriated the African-American community by suggesting that most criminals in the United States look the same as they were black, and expressed hope that “Obama fails” when the latter became the President of the United States.

Unfazed by the furore over his regressive comments, Limbaugh expressed his dislike for feminism with this gem: “Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society”.

He branded law student Sandra Fluke a slut and a prostitute after she spoke to Democrat leaders about the need for insurance policies to cover birth control plans.

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The outrage over Limbaugh’s cheap comments made several advertisers pull out their sponsorship over his show. Though the talk show host shamelessly refused to apologise to Fluke for weeks, he finally had to do so to keep his show afloat.

Meanwhile, the Vatican refused to take Limbaugh seriously, saying, "It does not seem worth the trouble of answering".

But the Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good sought an apology from Limbaugh, saying, "To call the Holy Father a proponent of pure Marxism is both mean-spirited and naive".

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