Yes, Pope Francis sees capitalism and inequality as the root cause of all the world’s social problems. His Apostolic Exhortation makes clear he’s on a mission. His power to change the world rests with his moral authority, convincing people to do what’s right, not just the 1.2 billion Catholic faithful, everyone in the world. But moral persuasion goes just so far.

The Pope has another weapon, the rarely used but extraordinary power of excommunication. When he used it recently the thought came up, could he use it against capitalists? Capitalism? To understand this weapon you need some background and what happened:

In January a 3-year-old boy was assassinated with his grandfather in southern Italy. Both bodies were burned beyond recognition in a car. “Don’t kill women and children” used to be the mafia code of honor. Last month an outraged Pope Francis returned to Calabria, the home turf of “one of the world’s richest organized crime families with annual turnover of $72 billion from cocaine.”

Calabria also suffers from “56% youth unemployment, which the mafia exploits with promises of jobs for disillusioned young people, offering opportunities not only in drug trafficking but extortion, prostitution, money laundering.”

In Calabria, Pope Francis celebrated mass before 100,000. Local prosecutors feared the mafia might target him. He delivered this indictment: “Those who in their life have gone along the evil ways, as in the case of the mafia, they are not with God, they are excommunicated,” excluded from the church, can no longer receive its blessings and sacraments.

That was a big first. As CNN put it, the Italian mafia has long been chummy with a Vatican hierarchy. Historically most popes were Italians, 217 of 266, the link helped create an image of “upstanding religious men in good rapport with the Catholic Church, in order to maintain local credibility.” But Francis, an outsider and first South American pope, had few ties to the Italian mob. Now the illusion’s gone.

Pope Francis, the outsider, also loves shaking things up, a former boxer with a mission to change the world, it’s in his blood. Plus he had that power of excommunication, and used it here with clear moral consequences. Now the mafia is the outsider, rejected by the church faithful, isolated from the hierarchy they where so chummy with in centuries past, now branded as evil.

Could, would, should Francis use excommunication with capitalism?

The pope’s power comes from his moral authority as head of the Roman Catholic Church. More than a billion Catholics worldwide look to the pope on moral matters, doing the right thing. He’s has already taken strong positions on the interrelated issues of capitalism, inequality, poverty and social justice. His risky, aggressive head-on confrontation with the mafia was a powerful example of his leadership style, adding some real sting to his moral authority.

So, yes, Pope Francis could excommunicate capitalists. Moreover, while he has no direct authority over non-Catholics, his actions could target individual capitalists who are Catholics or capitalism as an outlaw economic ideology. There is precedent in church canon law and history. It would add teeth to his Apostolic Exhortation against capitalism and conservatism and would send a chilling message to Catholic and non-Catholic capitalists worldwide.

But would he use this power? Throughout history popes, cardinals and bishops have used excommunication to assert their moral authority. Among those excommunicated: Henry IV, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther, Elizabeth I, Henry VIII, Fidel Castro, Jackie Kennedy. Several were excommunicated for fighting racial integration in Catholic schools or supporting Planned Parenthood; priests and nuns supporting ordination of women, same sex marriages have been excommunicated.

But would Pope Francis use this power to toughen his message that capitalism and inequality are the root cause of all the world’s social problems? Maybe not now. Not yet. Maybe never. More likely this pope will rely on his moral authority, his persuasive powers, the new social media to get his message across, as with the mafia recently.

But don’t be surprised later. When capitalism doesn’t mend its ways. When the rich keep getting richer, the inequality gap widens and poverty increases. Pope Francis is man with a divine mandate. Never dismiss excommunication as a weapon in his arsenal. The time may come when he gets outraged, as he did about the killing of one three-year old child, then effectively excommunicated the mafia as an organized crime economy.

The top 10 reasons Pope Francis could excommunicate capitalism

Remember, Pope Francis has no love for the spreading root damage done by the so-called Invisible Hand of capitalism, trickle-down economics, self-centered conservatism, our worship of money. So never bet against Pope Francis. He’s a born fighter, with an iron fist in a velvet glove, smiles but hates to lose.

So here’s an edited, paraphrased version of Pope Francis’ top 10 strategies in his war against capitalism. Keep these in mind when you ask yourself whether he could, would or should use excommunication against capitalism or individual capitalists, now or in the future:

1. Inequality ... root cause of all problems in world

‘Inequality is the root of social ills. Help the poor, reject markets and speculation, attack the structural causes of inequality, or you’ll never solve any of the world’s problems.’

2. Trickle down ... a total economic disaster

‘Free-market trickle-down economics causes injustice. A naive trust in the culture of prosperity and those wielding economic power deadens society.’

3. Invisible Hand ... now the hand of the Super Rich

‘Never trust in the so-called ‘invisible hand’ of the markets and economic remedies like cutting workers to increase profits. The world needs a better distribution of income.’

4. New tyranny ... capitalism is killing democracy

‘Ideologies increase the wealth of a minority exponentially, increasing the inequality gap, separating the most humans from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. A new tyranny is thus born, unilaterally and relentlessly imposing its own laws and rules.’

5. Capitalists ... new biblical money worshipers

‘Money must serve, not rule, yet we calmly accept its control over us. It originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person. The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money.”

6. Capitalism ... excess consumption is killing our values

‘Today’s economics promotes inordinate consumption, increases inequality, damages the social fabric, increases violence and serious conflicts. Blaming the poor and poorer countries for their troubles is misplaced, solve the corruption spreading at the top.’

7. Competition ... capitalists undermine the public interest

‘The laws of capitalist competition, the survival of the fittest rule. The powerful feed upon the powerless, the vast majority are marginalized: No work, No opportunities. No escape. News is a two-point loss in stocks, but not the death of elderly homeless?’

8. Capitalists ... see humans as economic commodities

‘Yes, we are now consumer goods, used, then discarded in a spreading throw-away culture. It is no longer about exploitation, oppression. Today’s excluded are no longer society’s underside, no longer even a part of it, but outcasts, leftovers.’

9. Conservatism ... is undermining the common good

‘In a world where everyone has their own subjective truth, citizens cannot develop common solutions that transcend personal ambitions. We need a new way of living and thinking that’s more humane and noble, that brings dignity to all human on this earth.’

10. Capitalism ... no moral compass in world economies

‘Behind capitalist economics lurks a rejection of ethics and God, debasing humans. This lack of morality and ethics leads us to a God who calls for solutions outside marketplace economics, to make it possible for a balance and more humane social order.’