Is the Church doing enough for the poor?

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Zoltan_Cobalt said:
“I am for doing good to the poor, but…I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed…that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”

― Benjamin Franklin
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Great quote if you are a secular politician. But we are Catholics Zoltan, and most likely we have a great deal of poverty is because of this type of thinking. My bet is poverty is most likely due to corruption and abuse in governments systems that keeps the poor down and aligns itself with the wealthy. I bet that the lack of charity, as you propose, not the lack of poor not wanting to work, is the cause of continued poverty in the world and at home.
 
WilT said:
The Church cannot minister to all needs equally,
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Of course it can.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you (compassion). Go your way, and from now on do not sin again (conversion).”

Both are pastoral. Compassion for this life, conversion for the next.
that is why Our Holy Father is asking our Catholic Bishops to not forget or diminish other areas of our ministries.🙂
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I don’t believe that is the Holy Father’s message to the Bishops. Of course if you are listening to liberal news sources you may get that impression. The Holy Father has spoke much about the evil of abortion and marriage between a man and a woman and family.

Stopping abortion is definitely a priority. Pope Francis has talked of a ‘disposable’ culture. If life is not respected at conception then it is not going to be respected at any stage.
 
WilT said:
Great quote if you are a secular politician. But we are Catholics Zoltan, and most likely we have a great deal of poverty is because of this type of thinking. My bet is poverty is most likely due to corruption and abuse in governments systems that keeps the poor down and aligns itself with the wealthy. I bet that the lack of charity, as you propose, not the lack of poor not wanting to work, is the cause of continued poverty in the world and at home.
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Ben was a very wise man. He was not wrong from a secular or religious perspective.

I agree with you about governments and corruption. Here in the U.S. we have rich liberal politicians telling the poor they are poor because of the rich…and the poor keep electing them.

I do not propose a “lack of Charity”. That is a duty of us rich Catholics. Where else would donations come from?

Anyway we gotta push that camel through the eye of the needle…don’t we?
 
Zoltan_Cobalt said:
Ben was a very wise man. He was not wrong from a secular or religious perspective.

I agree with you about governments and corruption. Here in the U.S. we have rich liberal politicians telling the poor they are poor because of the rich…and the poor keep electing them.

**I do not propose a “lack of Charity”. That is a duty of us rich Catholics. Where else would donations come from?
**
Anyway we gotta push that camel through the eye of the needle…don’t we?
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As “wealth redistribution” continues, inflation creeps up and new tax burdens stifle us, as unrealistic numbers of immigrants continue to put a drain on an economy that cannot possibly bear it or recover (given the current conditions,) and as middle class Americans lose their jobs and the private sector is strangled, how many “rich Catholics” will be left who are able to write their monthly checks to charities to help the poor?
 
My personal views: Here in my hometown, Catholic Charities and the St. Vincent de Paul Society lag far behind the Salvation Army in available services and programs. As I understand it, from comments by only a few individuals, there used to be a great deal more from various Catholic orders and societies than we see today. This is not the thread for discussing why.
As I am sure Wilt will agree, some of the homeless are mentally ill who, because of their illness, do not want to be inside a building or enclosed space. Some mental illnesses also cause sufferers to be wary of medications.
The addict is another story (although the homeless mentally ill may also be addicts), because the nature of addiction seems to be more behavioral than psychiatric. Addicts are, tragically, a prime example of, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” For every ten addicts that reject our help there are always a few who do heal and are grateful that we stopped to help.
Pope Francis is the right man at the right time (some will disagree) for awaking the Church to the need to do so much more than we do right now.
Wilt, thank you for posting this, and keep encouraging others to do MORE for the poor than we do today.
 
Since the inception of the 16th Amendment, Social Security and Welfare, the Church has largely abdicated its responsibility to the the poor and deferred it to the largesse of the federal government. It has been intimidated by the provisions of the tax code and allowed the government to dictate how and to whom the money goes.
 
David_Eckel said:
My personal views: Here in my hometown, Catholic Charities and the St. Vincent de Paul Society lag far behind the Salvation Army in available services and programs. As I understand it, from comments by only a few individuals, there used to be a great deal more from various Catholic orders and societies than we see today. This is not the thread for discussing why.
As I am sure Wilt will agree, some of the homeless are mentally ill who, because of their illness, do not want to be inside a building or enclosed space. Some mental illnesses also cause sufferers to be wary of medications.
The addict is another story (although the homeless mentally ill may also be addicts), because the nature of addiction seems to be more behavioral than psychiatric. Addicts are, tragically, a prime example of, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” For every ten addicts that reject our help there are always a few who do heal and are grateful that we stopped to help.
Pope Francis is the right man at the right time (some will disagree) for awaking the Church to the need to do so much more than we do right now.
Wilt, thank you for posting this, and keep encouraging others to do MORE for the poor than we do today.
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👍👍
 
Allow me to vent…

I think a better question would be: “What is the Church doing for the poor?”

There seem to be more poor so obviously it is not working.

For my entire adult life I have joined with family, friends, and fellow parishioners who have been very generous with our contributions. Not only for day to day support of our dioceses but for countless church charities and programs.

We are told “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” but it does not work that way in real life. We are never blessed. The more we give, the more is expected. The only response we receive for practicing the virtue of charity is a guilt trip. Is the Church only concerned with those who suffer and not those who provide relief from suffering? I know of people who give more than they can afford and that sacrifice itself produces suffering …could they expect a thank you note from the Holy Father?

So, what is the church doing for the poor? Feeding and clothing them? That’s good, but at the end of the day they will warm and fed…but still poor.

Someone once said “the poor will always be with us” or “there will always be poor” …or …something like that. I simply ask…why?
 
Zoltan_Cobalt said:
Someone once said “the poor will always be with us” or “there will always be poor” …or …something like that. I simply ask…why?
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I think Archbishop Romero had the same question:
“When I fed the poor, they called me a saint. When I asked why the poor had no food, they called me a Communist.”
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zab said:
I don’t know, WilT, are you? It is easy to point the finger at the Church, but we are the church. We people make up the Body of Christ, The Church (, including yourself). The question should be put to each one of us- Am I doing enough to help the poor?
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bisco said:
but that’s been an issue for 2,000 years.🙂
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Jesus said that " The poor you will always have with you". We are called to **forever **serve the poor.

Albeit, We are called primarily to strengthen and focus on our relationship with Christ which intern will bring back our hearts to the poor.

Jesus was all about service to ones brother.He taught this to his Disciples by His example of washing another’s feet.
 
Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta was a wonderful example how she would first focus herself and that of her sisters on God then with that acquired strength would begin her service to the poor.:nun2:
 
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