In response to:
i.e. considering that churches directly benefit from capitalism in the US through tax exemptions, charitable tax write off contributions, etc., it would be shocking if the Vatican took any other position. The Catholic Church (and now evangelical hucksters and Mormons) is, at bottom, nothing more than a huge cash generating entity. As U2 says in one of its songs, "the God I believe in isn't short on cash, mister..."
Increasingly, priests and pastors are preaching that socialism (in the name of “social justice”) is Christ-like. In truth, capitalism, not socialism, reflects Christian values. I think Christians would be less likely to embrace socialism if they understood that the economic philosophy of Ayn Rand is compatible with Christianity.
‘Social Justice’ Evolves
In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle speaks of a general form of justice that encompasses all virtue. Describing general justice, Aristotle writes: “It is complete virtue and excellence in the fullest sense… It is complete because he who possesses it can make use of his virtue not only by himself but...
Nothing like displaying your laughable, Statist assumptions.
Churches do not "benefit" in any way from capitalism as you've described it, because nobody benefits from "not paying taxes." There does not exist some universal moral right that gives government ownership of any of our dollars. Insofar as the government obtains money from taxation, it does so on the authority of the Constitution, for the purposes explicitly granted in the Constitution. Churches are not taxed because the government has no power over institutions of religion, just as they have no power over government.
All church attendees pay taxes.