Pope Francis on wealth and the poor

“I want a Church that is of and for the poor.” That quotation is from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel” (No. 198): There is no better way to summarize the message. It is a simple message, but it is also rich with the insights on the poor and poverty that the Church has gathered from the Old and New Testaments, from the Fathers of the Church, and from the Church’s 2,000-year-old lived tradition.

He will deliver several talks during his visit here. These selections from “The Joy of the Gospel” may help us appreciate the richness of his message and the strong commitment to the poor it demands of us, and may encourage the reader to study the entire Apostolic Exhortation.

• The Pope is very critical of our economic system, especially because it turns human beings into “leftovers.”

“Just as the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion.” (No. 53)

“Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a ‘throwaway’ culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised—they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the ‘exploited’ but the outcast, the ‘leftovers.’” (No. 53)

• The Pope claims that nonideological ethics will make it possible to repair the present economy, and we are all called to help. He highlights the importance of jobs.

“Ethics—a nonideological ethics—would make it possible to bring about balance and a more humane social order. With this in mind, I encourage financial experts and political leaders to ponder the words of one of the sages of antiquity (St. John Chrysostom): ‘Not to share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs.’” (No. 57)

“Yet we desire even more than this; our dream soars higher. We are not simply talking about ensuring nourishment or a ‘dignified sustenance’ for all people, but also their ‘general temporal welfare and prosperity.’ This means education, access to healthcare, and above all employment, for it is through free, creative, participatory and mutually supportive labor that human beings express and enhance the dignity of their lives. A just wage enables them to have adequate access to all the other goods which are destined for our common use.” (No. 192)

• God’s word teaches us to be merciful.

“We incarnate the duty of hearing the cry of the poor when we are deeply moved by the suffering of others. Let us listen to what God’s word teaches us about mercy, and allow that word to resound in the life of the Church. The Gospel tells us: ‘Blessed are the merciful, because they shall obtain mercy’ (Mt 5:7). The apostle James teaches that our mercy to others will vindicate us on the day of God’s judgment.” (Jas 2:12-13)

• The Pope tells us God has a special place in His heart for the poor.

“God’s heart has a special place for the poor, so much so that He Himself ‘became poor’ (2 Cor 8:9). The entire history of our redemption is marked by the presence of the poor. Salvation came to us from the ‘yes’ uttered by a lowly maiden from a small town on the fringes of a great empire. The Savior was born in a manger, in the midst of animals, like children of poor families; he was presented at the Temple along with two turtledoves, the offering made by those who could not afford a lamb (cf. Lk 2:24; Lev5:7); he was raised in a home of ordinary workers and worked with his own hands to earn his bread. When he began to preach the Kingdom, crowds of the dispossessed followed him, illustrating his words: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor’ (Lk 4:18). He assured those burdened by sorrow and crushed by poverty that God has a special place for them in His heart: ‘Blessed are you poor, yours is the kingdom of God’ (Lk 6:20); he made himself one of them: ‘I was hungry and you gave me food to eat,’ and he taught them that mercy towards all of these is the key to heaven.” (cf. Mt 25:5ff, No. 197)

• The true basis of our relationship with the poor is love.

“Our commitment does not consist exclusively in activities or programmes of promotion and assistance; what the Holy Spirit mobilizes is not an unruly activism, but above all an attentiveness which considers the other ‘in a certain sense as one with ourselves.’ This loving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person which inspires me effectively to seek their good… The poor person, when loved, ‘is esteemed as of great value,’ and this is what makes the authentic option for the poor differ from any other ideology, from any attempt to exploit the poor for one’s own personal or political interest.

“Only on the basis of this real and sincere closeness can we properly accompany the poor on their path of liberation. Only this will ensure that in every Christian community the poor feel at home. Would not this approach be the greatest and most effective presentation of the good news of the kingdom? Without the preferential option for the poor, the proclamation of the Gospel, which is itself the prime form of charity, risks being misunderstood or submerged by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us in today’s society of mass communications.” (No. 199)

Denis Murphy works with the Urban Poor Associates (urbanpoorassociates@ymail.com).