Option for the Poor

Option for the Poor

· There are certainly situations whose injustice cries to heaven. When whole populations destitute of necessities live in a state of dependence barring them from all initiative and responsibility, and all opportunity to advance culturally and share in social and political life, recourse to violence, as a means to right these wrongs to human dignity, is a grave temptation. On the Development of Peoples, #30.

· Let each one examine his conscience, a conscience that conveys a new message for our times. Is he prepared to support out of his own pocket works and understanding organized in favor of the most destitute? Is he ready to pay higher taxes so that the public authorities can intensify their efforts in favor of development? Is he ready to pay a higher price for imported goods so that the producer may be more justly rewarded? On the Development of Peoples, #48.

· "If a brother or a sister be naked," says Saint James; "if they lack their daily nourishment, and one of you says to them: 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled', without giving them what is necessary for the body, what good does it do?" (Jas 2: 15-16) Today no one can be ignorant any longer of the fact that in whole continents countless men and women are ravished by hunger, countless numbers of children are undernourished, so that many of them die in infancy, while the physical growth and mental development of many others are retarded and as a result whole regions are condemned to the most depressing despondency. On the Development of Peoples, #45.

· Perhaps the most pressing question of our day concerns the relationship between economically advanced commonwealths and those that are in process of development. The former enjoy the conveniences of life; the latter experience dire poverty. Yet, today men are so intimately associated in all parts of the world that they feel, as it were, as if they are members of one and the same household. Therefore, the nations that enjoy a sufficiency and abundance of everything may not overlook the plight of other nations whose citizens experience such domestic problems that they are all but overcome by poverty and hunger, and are not able to enjoy basic human rights. Mother and Teacher, #157.

· Never has the human race enjoyed such an abundance of wealth, resources and economic power, and yet a huge proportion of the world's citizens are still tormented by hunger and poverty, while countless numbers suffer from total illiteracy. The Church in the Modern World, #4.

· In teaching us charity, the Gospel instructs us in the preferential respect due to the poor and the special situation they have in society: the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others. A Call to Action, #23. 

· …Furthermore, it must not be forgotten that at the root of war there are usually real and serious grievances: injustices suffered, legitimate aspirations frustrated, poverty, and the exploitation of multitudes of desperate people who see no real possibility of improving their lot by peaceful means. For this reason, another name for peace is development. Just as there is a collective responsibility for avoiding war, so too there is a collective responsibility for promoting development. The Hundredth Year, #52 (p. 100).

· Therefore political leaders, and citizens of rich countries considered as individuals, especially if they are Christians, have the moral obligation, according to the degree of each one's responsibility, to take into consideration, in personal decisions and decisions of government, this relationship of universality, this interdependence which exists between their conduct and the poverty and underdevelopment which exists between their conduct and the poverty of so many millions of people. On Social Concern, #9. 

· "The needs of the poor take priority over the desires of the rich; the rights of workers over the maximization of profits; the preservation of the environment over uncontrolled industrial expansion; the production to meet social needs over production for military purposes." (Address on Christian Unity in a Technological Age [Toronto, Sept. 14, 1984] in Origins 14:16 [Oct. 4, 1984]). Economic Justice for All, #94.

· The obligation to provide justice for all means that the poor have the single most urgent economic claim on the conscience of the nation. Economic Justice for All, #86.

· Christian love draws us to serve the weak and vulnerable among us. We are called to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless. We are also summoned to restore the land; to provide clean, safe water to drink and unpolluted air to breathe; to preserve endangered species; to protect wild places; and to help the poor help themselves. Renewing the Earth, 11.

· A consistent theme of Catholic social teaching is the option or love of preference for the poor. Today, this preference has to be expressed in worldwide dimensions, embracing the immense number of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without medical care and those without hope. On Social Concern, #42.

· Poverty is not only a question of having no material goods. Is the lack of human rights not also a form of poverty? On Social Concern, #15.

· Faced with a world today where so many people are suffering from want, the council asks individuals and governments to remember the saying of the Fathers: "Feed the people dying of hunger, because if you do not feed them you are killing them," (I Cor 7:5) and it urges them according to their ability to share and dispose of their goods to help others, above all by giving them aid which will enable them to help and development themselves. The Church and the Modern World, #69.

· Love for others, and in the first place love for the poor, in whom the Church see Christ himself, is made concrete in the promotion of justice. The Hundredth Year, #58, p. 108

· The poor ask for the right to share in enjoying material goods and to make good use of their capacity for work, thus creating a world that is more just and prosperous for all. The advancement of the poor constitutes a great opportunity for the moral, cultural, and even economic growth of all humanity. The Hundredth Year, #28, p. 55

· In spite of the great changes which have taken place in the more advanced societies, the human inadequacies of capitalism and the resulting domination of things over people are far from disappearing. In fact, for the poor, to the lack of material goods has been added a lack of knowledge and training which prevents from escaping their state of humiliating subjection. The Hundredth Year, #33, p. 65

· This duty is not limited to one's own family, nation or State, but extends progressively to all mankind, since no one can consider himself extraneous or indifferent to the lot of another member of the human family. No one can say that he is not responsible for the well-being of his brother or sister (cf. Gen 4:9; Lk 10:29-37; Mt 25:31-46). The Hundredth Year, #51, p. 99

· This is the culture which is hoped for, one which fosters trust in the human potential of the poor, and consequently in their ability to improve their condition through work or to make a positive contribution to economic prosperity. But to accomplish this, the poor –be they individuals or nations—need to be provided with realistic opportunities. Creating such conditions calls for a concerted worldwide effort to promote development, an effort which also involves sacrificing positions of income and of power enjoyed by the more developed economies. This may mean making important changes in established life-styles, in order to limit the waste of environmental and human resources, thus enabling every individual and all the peoples of the earth to have a sufficient share of those resources. In addition, the new material and spiritual resources must be utilized which are the result of the work and culture of peoples who today are on the margins of the international community, so as to obtain an overall human enrichment of the family of nations. The Hundredth Year, #52 (p. 101).

· More than 33 million Americans - about one in every seven people in our nation - are poor by the government's official definition. The norms of human dignity and the preferential option for the poor compel us to confront this issue with a sense of urgency. Dealing with poverty is not a luxury to which our nation can attend when it finds the time and resources. Rather, it is a moral imperative of the highest priority. Economic Justice for All, #170.

· That so many people are poor in a nation as rich as ours is a social and moral scandal that we cannot ignore. Economic Justice for All, #16

· As individuals and as a nation, therefore, we are called to make a fundamental "option for the poor." The obligation to evaluate social and economic activity from the viewpoint of the poor and the powerless arises from the radical command to love one's neighbor as one's self. Those who are marginalized and whose rights are denied have privileged claims if society is to provide justice for all. This obligation is deeply rooted in Christian belief. Economic Justice for All, #87.

· The primer purpose of this special commitment to the poor is to enable them to become active participants in the life of society. It is to enable all persons to share in and contribute to the common good. The "option for the poor," therefore, is not an adversarial slogan that pits one group or class against another. Rather it states that the deprivation and powerlessness of the poor wounds the whole community. The extent of their suffering is a measure of how far we are from being a true community of persons. These wounds will be healed only by greater solidarity with the poor and among the poor themselves. Economic Justice for All, #88.

· The quality of the national discussion about our economic future will affect the poor most of all, in this country and throughout the world. The life and dignity of millions of men, women and children hang in the balance. Decisions must be judged in light of what they do for the poor, what they do to the poor, and what they enable the poor to do for themselves. The fundamental moral criterion for all economic decisions, policies, and institutions is this: They must be at the service of all people, especially the poor. Economic Justice for All, #24.

· As followers of Christ, we are challenged to make a fundamental "option for the poor" – to speak for the voiceless, to defend the defenseless, to assess life styles, policies, and social institutions in terms of their impact on the poor. This "option for the poor" does not mean pitting one group against another, but rather, strengthening the whole community by assisting those who are the most vulnerable. As Christians, we are called to respond to the needs of all our brothers and sisters, but those with the greatest needs require the greatest response. Economic Justice for All (Pastoral Message), #16.

· Solidarity does not mean choosing the poor over everyone else, but recognizing that authentic human development cannot be achieved without the inclusion of poor people as full participants in society. This means not only that the poor must have access to enough food, but that the poor must have a real voice in deciding how the food system—and indeed, society itself—should be organized to serve the common good, at home and abroad. Food Policy in a Hungry World, 8

· …the common good requires solidarity with the poor who are often without the resources to face many problems, including the potential impacts of climate change. Our obligations to the one human family stretch across space and time. They tie us to the poor in our midst and across the globe, as well as to future generations. The commandment to love our neighbor invites us to consider the poor and marginalized of other nations as true brothers and sisters who share with us the one table of life intended by God for the enjoyment of all. Global Climate Change, 11.

· Each of us should carefully consider our choices and lifestyles. We live in a culture that prizes the consumption of material goods. While the poor often have too little, many of us can be easily caught up in a frenzy of wanting more and more—a bigger home, a larger car, etc. Even though energy resources literally fuel our economy and provide a good quality of life, we need to ask about ways we can conserve energy, prevent pollution, and live more simply. Global Climate Change, 15

· Even with enhanced international debt relief, strongly urged by our bishops' conference in the 1999 statement A Jubilee Call for Debt Forgiveness, a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa continue to pay debt services that average close to one-quarter of government revenues, thereby shifting already limited resources away from vital health delivery services, education, and other efforts to eliminate poverty. In an age of globalization, Africa is quickly becoming the primary place of poverty in the world. Given the deepening crisis, today's global response remains inadequate and indefensible. A Call to Solidarity with Africa, 13, 15.

· A Church that teaches an option for the poor must reflect that option in our serve to those in need. Parish efforts to meet human needs also provide valuable experience, expertise, and credibility in advocating for public policy to address the forces that leave people in need to our charity. Communities of Salt and Light, 8.

· The fact that starvation is still a brutal reality in a world with the technical capacity to feed everyone touches all of us. Something is basically wrong when hunger still haunts the richest nation on earth, when thousands of family farmers who produce our food cannot sustain their own families and keep their farms, and when public policy seems designed to promote and reward the biggest and richest farmers at the expense of smaller and more moderately sized farms, for which the original programs were intended. Food Policy in a Hungry World, 5.

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