Pope Benedict told a crowd of 30,000 in Rome yesterday that it is a Christian’s “duty to take on fiscal responsibilities, as serious and unpleasant as they may be.” In other words, pay your taxes-even if you think they’re too high.

This might seem an unremarkable statement coming from a religious leader, but remember that he was speaking in Italy, where tax evasion is common and even socially acceptable. Prime Minister Romano Prodi, whose government has been trying to crack down on the practice, complained this summer that the Catholic Church didn’t speak out more strongly against it.

Some have predicted that Benedict’s anticipated encyclical on social teaching, expected to come out before the end of the winter, will also include a condemnation of tax evasion.