Preferential Option for the Poor

A major theme in Catholic Social Teaching is the preferential option for the poor. In its simplest this means giving of one's time, talent, and treasure to those with the greatest and most basic human needs. Usually this means the hungry, homeless, and ill members of our society. Most often people picture the citizens of Africa, Central America, or Southeast Asia for one can certainly find the hungry, homeless, and ill prevalent in these places, but our Bishops remind us constantly that the poorest, most defenseless members of our society are also in our own backyard. They are the unborn:

Abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others. They are committed against those who are weakest and most defenseless, those who are genuinely "the poorest of the poor." -- U.S. Bishops, Living the Gospel of Life

Our desire to help the poor should culminate in demanding the eradication of abortion and euthanasia from our society. None of the poor should be neglected, but the poorest must come first. Any violation against the most primary right to life must command our attention before all other violations.

The State has an important role to play:

Laws which authorize and promote abortion and euthanasia are therefore radically opposed not only to the good of the individual but also to the common good; as such they are completely lacking in authentic juridical validity. Disregard for the right to life, precisely because it leads to the killing of the person whom society exists to serve, is what most directly conflicts with the possibility of achieving the common good. Consequently, a civil law authorizing abortion or euthanasia ceases by that very fact to be a true, morally binding civil law." -- John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, emphasis added

But this means more than policy changes. Anyone can observe that making something illegal does not make it go away. We must reach out to our neighbors and establish relationships with each other. The poor must be given proper care and just means of subsistence to not feel as though abortion is the only option. The greatest contributors to abortion, poverty and sexual immorality, must be fought with charity, education, and justice.

As Charley Clark wrote in the previous post, "The main mission of the Church in politics is to get voters and legislators to see everyone as a person with dignity, a child of God, and to call for justice and charity from the system and from individuals." But also that the Church is primarily "in the changing of hearts business." When it comes to abortion, people need more than anything else a change of hearts and minds. It is our responsibility to care for the poor and those considering abortion, to show them charity and love, to let them know that they are not alone, and to be there for them when times are tough. It also means not condemning those who are considering an abortion or who have even had one, but reaching out to them and showing them the love and mercy that Christ shows us.

We can do much more as individuals by volunteering, tithing, showing concern for others even if they're complete strangers, etc.


Jesus put it simply when he said 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'