Pope Francis has rejected allegations that he is a Marxist.

"Marxist ideology is wrong. But in my life I have known many Marxists who are good people, so I don't feel offended," Pope Francis stated in an interview for Italian newspaper La Stampa.

Pope Francis's Apostolic exhortation on the Joy of the Gospel, Evangelii Gaudium, which was issued on November 26, attacked unfettered capitalism as "a new tyranny."

He called on global leaders to fight poverty and to put an end to an "economy of exclusion and inequality."

In his apostolic exhortation, as cited by the CNN, he also condemned "trickle-down economics," saying the theory "expresses a crude and na?ve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power."

Responding to critics who saw his stance on capitalism as Marxist, Pope Francis made clear in his interview for La Stampa that he had referred to the social doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church.

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