24 February 2016 | General Audience

POPE FRANCIS: GENERAL AUDIENCE

Saint Peter's Square

[…] This is exactly what happened in the episode of Naboth’s vineyard. Jezebel, the queen, in an unscrupulous manner, decides to eliminate Naboth and puts her plan into action. She uses false pretences of a perverse legal system: in the king’s name, she sends letters to the elders and nobles of the city, ordering that false witnesses publicly accuse Naboth of having cursed God and the king, a crime punishable by death. Thus, with Naboth dead, the king was able to take possession of the vineyard. This is not a story of former times, it is also a story of today, of the powerful who, in order to have more money, exploit the poor, exploit people. It is the story of the trafficking of people, of slave labour, of poor people who work “under the table” and for a minimal wage, thus enriching the powerful. […]