Can someone explain "the option for the poor"?

[Erica_Rae]

Hi all!

I’m applying for an internship this summer with the USCCB’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and one of the application questions I need to answer refers to the Church’s “option for the poor.” I looked it up in my copy of “Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching” but it really just referenced the phrase rather than explaining it.

I’m sure there’s much more to this teaching that can be said in a post, but if anyone can give me a quick summary or could point me in the right direction to a better understanding, I would be very appreciative!

Thank you!

 

[cathybramble]

Hi all!

I’m applying for an internship this summer with the USCCB’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and one of the application questions I need to answer refers to the Church’s “option for the poor.” I looked it up in my copy of “Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching” but it really just referenced the phrase rather than explaining it.

I’m sure there’s much more to this teaching that can be said in a post, but if anyone can give me a quick summary or could point me in the right direction to a better understanding, I would be very appreciative!

Thank you!

i didn’t know and thought it sounded interesting so i looked it up:
*
"As followers of Christ, we are challenged to make a preferential option for the poor, namely, to create conditions for marginalized voices to be heard, to defend the defenseless, and to assess lifestyles, policies and social institutions in terms of their impact on the poor. The option for the poor does not mean pitting one group against another, but rather, it calls us to strengthen the whole community by assisting those who are most vulnerable. "*

centerforsocialconcerns.nd.edu/mission/cst/cst4.shtml

 

[catharina]

You might find it helpful to view this link.

ratzingerfanclub.com/blog/2005/06/on-preferential-option-for-poor.html

The more common use of the term is “preferential option for the poor.”

For example, this is written:

"Pope John Paul II spoke of this preferential option on many occasions, preferring the term “preferential love for the poor” – the website The Social Agenda, a collection of Magisterial texts compiled by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, from which we offer two excerpts that convey a sense of this “preferential option”:

It will not be superfluous therefore to reexamine and further clarify in this light the characteristic themes and guidelines dealt with by the Magisterium in the recent years. Here I would like to indicate one of them: the preferential option or love of preference for the poor. This is an option, 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 our ownership and the use of goods. (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, n. 42)

In seeking to promote human dignity, the Church shows a preferential love of the poor and voiceless, because the Lord has identified himself with them in special way (cf. Mt 25:40). This love excludes no one, but simply embodies a priority of service to which the whole Christian tradition bears witness. This love of preference for the poor, and the decisions which it inspires in us, cannot but embrace the immense multitudes of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without medical care and, above all, those without hope of a better future. (Ecclesia in Asia, n. 34)
It should not suprise us that the phrase itself is subject to a wide variety of interpretations, often reflecting the political and spiritual orientation of the individual."

Best hope for your success in serving the poor.

 

[catharina]

Erica Rae, hi again.

Now that I looked at your profile, let me add that I’ll pray for you during your RCIA process.

Faith is such a GIFT!

 

[Erica_Rae]

Now that I looked at your profile, let me add that I’ll pray for you during your RCIA process.

Thank you for your prayers; I really appreciate them!

And thank you both for your helpful links!