POVERTY SOCIAL STATMENTS - ROMAN CATHOLIC

Poverty and the Working Poor

The struggle against destitution is building a world where every man, no matter what his race, religion or nationality, can live a fully human life, freed from servitude imposed on him by other men or by natural forces over which he has not sufficient control. –From On the Development of Peoples http://www.osjspm.org/cst/q_pov.htm


There are certainly situations whose injustice cries to heaven. Whole populations are 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. –From On the Development of Peoples http://www.osjspm.org/cst/q_pov.htm

Working for the common good requires us to promote the flourishing of all human life and all of God's creation. Our obligations to the one human family 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. –From Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good http://www.osjspm.org/cst/q_poor.htm
http://www.richmonddiocese.org/ojp/ojp114.htm#Poverty

For it is not simply a question of eliminating hunger and reducing poverty. It is not enough to combat destitution, urgent and necessary as this is. The point at issue is the establishment of a human society in which everyone, regardless of race, religion or nationality, can live a truly human life free from bondage imposed by men and the forces of nature not sufficiently mastered, a society in which freedom is not an empty word, and where Lazarus the poor man can sit at the same table as the rich man.

• Pope Paul VI, On the Development of Peoples (Populorum Progressio), 1967 [# 47]
  The principle of participation leads us to the conviction that the most appropriate and fundamental solutions to poverty will be those that enable people to take control of their own lives.
• National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice For All, 1986
  

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