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Solidarity-PreferentialOptionforthePoor.pptxSOLIDARITY PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR THE POOR Responsibility toward Our Human Community
A Deeper Approach to Social Justice
Poverty and Wealth
The distribution of the material resources of the earth is
a reality that impacts every human being.
Poverty and Wealth
In this context, “poverty” does not refer to merely being out of work or going through “hard times,” such as foreclosure, and having to scale back. Rather, what is meant is “deep” poverty, also referred to as “absolute poverty” – a severe deprivation of the basic necessities of life.
Poverty and Wealth
How does social justice call us to respond to the poverty of the world?
Poverty and Wealth
Throughout his pontificate, Saint Pope John Paul II frequently discussed solidarity, as well as calling for Christians to make a “preferential option for the poor.”
In the Encyclical SOLLICITUDO REI SOCIALIS (1987), he speaks of “characteristic themes and guidelines dealt with by the Magisterium in recent years,” and continues: “Here I would like to indicate one of them: the option or love of preference for the poor. This is an option, or a special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole tradition of the Church bears witness. It affects the life of each Christian inasmuch as he or she seeks to imitate the life of Christ, but it applies equally to our social responsibilities and hence to our manner of living, and to the logical decisions to be made concerning the ownership and use of goods.”
He specifically discusses SOLIDARITY in p. 38 of that document: “It is above all a question of interdependence, sensed as a system determining relationships in the contemporary world, in its economic, cultural, political and religious elements, and accepted as a moral category. When interdependence becomes recognized in this way, the correlative response as a moral and social attitude, as a "virtue," is solidarity.”
Solidarity “is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.” It involves “a commitment to the good of one's neighbor with the readiness, in the gospel sense, to ‘lose oneself’ for the sake of the other instead of exploiting him, and to ‘serve him’ instead of oppressing him for one's own advantage.”
He continues in p. 39: “The exercise of solidarity within each society is valid when its members recognize one another as persons. . . . Solidarity helps us to see the ‘other’-whether a person, people or nation-not just as some kind of instrument, with a work capacity and physical strength to be exploited at low cost and then discarded when no longer useful, but as our ‘neighbor,’ a ‘helper’ (cf. Gen 2:18-20), to be made a sharer, on a par with ourselves, in the banquet of life to which all are equally invited by God.”
The Pope thus locates the preferential option for the poor within the overarching call to human solidarity: we are called to acknowledge our human interdependence – and our resulting responsibility to the common good – and to commit ourselves to the good of every human person. Every person is our neighbor, every person is equally invited by God to share in the “banquet of life.”
On the 100th anniversary of RERUM NOVARUM, the first social justice encyclical, John Paul II wrote CENTESIMUS ANNUS (1991). In it, he explicitly invokes the concept of the “preferential option for the poor” when referring to the 1891 encylical:
“Re-reading the Encyclical in the light of contemporary realities enables us to appreciate the Church's constant concern for and dedication to categories of people who are especially beloved to the Lord Jesus. The content of the text is an excellent testimony to the continuity within the Church of the so-called ‘preferential option for the poor’, an option which I defined as a ‘special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity’.
“Pope Leo's Encyclical on the ‘condition of the workers’ is thus an Encyclical on the poor and on the terrible conditions to which the new and often violent process of industrialization had reduced great multitudes of people. Today, in many parts of the world, similar processes of economic, social and political transformation are creating the same evils.”
Preferential Option for the Poor
What is meant by the “preferential option for the poor”?
It does NOT mean the non-poor are not important; it does not imply a condemnation of those who are NOT poor.
Preferential Option for the Poor
It means a primacy of concern for the poor, following the example of Jesus in his ministry.
During his entire ministry, Jesus reached out especially to the poor, outcast, marginalized, vulnerable – those who were considered the least. Of course, we ought not forget that this emphasis is also found in the Old Testament, where the poor and lowly are of special concern to God.
Preferential Option for the Poor
Note Pope John Paul II’s description: “a special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity.” The poor are to be considered first in the decisions and actions of Christians.
Preferential Option for the Poor
If the welfare of ALL human beings is of concern to the followers of Christ, it means that the most vulnerable and marginalized ought to be their top priority. The social justice of a society is measured by the degree of well-being of its “least-advantaged” members.
(A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.)
Social Justice
Much deeper than applying a “Band-Aid,” offering help, or giving a hand-out.
Rather, making the political, economic, educational, health care, etc. institutions of society more just – more inclusive, more responsive to the needs of all, especially the poor.
Making decisions and policies that will work to the benefit of all (not just some) and especially the poor.
Social Justice
Examining the impact of our decisions, our lifestyle, our consumerism, our spending habits, our corporate and national policies on the disadvantaged of our world.
Rethinking our relation to those who are “poor.”
Social Justice
Giving ALL a place at the table
