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What is the preferential option for the poor?

In our contemporary political landscape, the option for the poor gets bandied about by people on all sides of the political
spectrum.
By Kira Dault | Print | Share
ARTICLE YOUR FAITH

I have a friend who is a permanent deacon. He’s a former Marine, and though he is
wonderfully kind, he can also turn on his military face and voice to let you know when
he means business. One Sunday at Mass, he preached a homily about prayer,
particularly about praying for the poor. He had on his game face that day, and at the

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end of his homily he leaned in close to the microphone and said in a terrifyingly stern
whisper, “I know you are all busy. But you can give 30 minutes of your God-given
breath to pray for the poor.”

One of the major developments in Catholic social teaching in the 20th century has been
the preferential option for the poor. The option for the poor is simply the idea that, as
reflected in canon law, “The Christian faithful are also obliged to promote social
justice and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor.” It indicates an
obligation, on the part of those who would call themselves Christian, first and foremost
to care for the poor and vulnerable.

The phrase “preferential option for the poor” was first used in 1968 by the superior
general of the Jesuits, Father Pedro Arrupe, in a letter to his order. The term was later
picked up by the Catholic bishops of Latin America. In its early usage, particularly, the
option for the poor referred especially to a trend throughout biblical texts, where there
is a demonstrable preference given to powerless individuals who live on the margins of
society. The liberation theology movement fully embraced the concept, particularly
when they closely associated the poor and vulnerable with Jesus himself, citing
Matthew 25, “Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.”

The option for the poor didn’t remain in the liberation theology camp, however. In
1991, Pope John Paul II used the term, and elaborated on the concept in his encyclical
Centesimus Annus. In that encyclical, which celebrated the 100-year anniversary of
Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum (On Capital and Labor), John Paul II
expanded the use of the “option for the poor” to include spiritual as well as material
poverty. Pope Benedict XVI, who was rather famously antagonistic to liberation
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theology, embraced the option for the poor as a true Catholic obligation, and extended
the understanding of the poor to include all those who are marginalized in society:
widows, children, people with disabilities, and victims of oppression, among others.

In our contemporary political landscape, the option for the poor gets bandied about by
people on all sides of the political spectrum. It is part of debates regarding welfare,
food stamps, private charity, political advocacy, and more. At the end of the day, the
preferential option for the poor does not tell us how we are to achieve it. It only lets us
know that in our lives as Christians, we are called to give up some of our God-given
breath to care for the poor.

This article appeared in the January 2015 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 80, No. 1, page
46).

Image: Flickr photo cc by Steven Depolo

GLAD YOU ASKED

Kira Dault is a former associate editor of U.S. Catholic.

SEE MORE POSTS BY KIRA DAULT

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Anita Renault Ford

Guess Paul the Pius Ryan gets his marching orders from Ayn Rand Objectivism rather than the
Roman Catrholic faith and Papal Encyclicals?
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Alexander Fretheim
To be fair, the "fiscal conservatism" of the right is overblown: right-wingers are neither as
horrible to welfare nor as good for balancing the budget as they are generally given credit.
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onlein • 3 years ago

The church has gotten itself in a bit of corner here, aligning with the political right who are for
further cutting welfare benefits, including for Medicaid, Medicaid for the disabled, WIC, TANF
and SNAP. Anything that might redistribute a penny from the wants of the super rich to the
needs of the poor is off the table. Past cuts have greatly increased the number of abortions
among those formerly eligible for AFDC and for those whose WIC and SNAP have been
reduced. These numbers will increase if further cuts are enacted.
6△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Alexander Fretheim > onlein • 7 months ago

That WAS true, although a noticeable shift is occurring and the post-Trump right does not
look like the pre-Trump right much at all.

Also, keep in mind that the political left has done more harm to Section 8 housing and
urban development strategy that create a large stock of housing and industrial
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urban development strategy that create a large stock of housing and industrial
opportunity with their growth management insanity than the right has ever done to
Medicaid, WIC, TANF or SNAP. A good argument can also be made that the high
defense spending of the right also helps the poor in several ways, and that freeways (of
the kind that the left hates) basically ended third-world style slums in America. In general,
for both better and worse, the "fiscal conservatism" of the right is overblown: right-
wingers are neither as horrible to welfare nor as good for balancing the budget as they
are generally given credit.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

onlein > Alexander Fretheim • 7 months ago

The freeways were made possible by tax rates at 90% or above on the top
bracket for 19 out of 20 years from the early 1940's to 1960s (one year in the
80s). These taxes also helped finance the GI Bill, which essentially created the
middle class. That seems an argument for raising rather than lowering taxes on
the top bracket. And an argument for the parties working together as they did
during and after WWII. Back then we got things done. Back then we had much
more patriotism and much less partisanship.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

NanaLynne • 3 years ago

What I find so sad is that this is so totally debased by Catholic politicians in Congress and the 5
on the US Supreme Court...
4△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

William Horan • 3 years ago

Action item number one

“A preferential option for the poor” should be maintained in everything we do as a Church.

Here is a good place to start: our Catholic schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our
schools open to the poor, the Church should be ready to use its resources for something else
which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a church primarily
for the middle-class and rich while throwing a bone to the poor. The priority should be given to
the poor even if we have to let the middle-class and rich fend for themselves.
Practically speaking, the Catholic schools must give up general education in those countries
where the State is providing it. The resources of the Church could then be focused on
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and other programs which can be kept open to the poor.
These resources could then be used to help society become more human in solidarity with the
poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic schools for centuries. It can get along
without them today. The essential factor from the Christian point of view is to cultivate enough
Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition, namely, THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-
class are welcome too. BUT THE POOR COME FIRST.
4△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Su2 > William Horan • 3 years ago

The church managed without Catholic schools for centuries? In reality, throughout most
of the history of Christianity the only schools have been church schools Monastic orders
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of the history of Christianity, the only schools have been church schools. Monastic orders
have educated people since the beginning; other orders have seen the benefit of
educating those middle-class and rich because of the overall impact an educated middle
and upper class have on public policy, among other things. If you spend all the church's
resources on the poor, you will soon find that we have a church of the poor. Those
middle-class and wealthy people will fend for themselves by leaving. Who would blame
them? If a person is not being nourished (and that includes education at all levels) there
is no reason to stay.

Certainly, caring for the poor is essential. It's a foundational value not only of the New but
of the Old Testament. But the church can do a lot more good by educating everyone on
that requirement and helping them determine how it should be met. There's lots of room
for discussion as to whether the poor are best served by private charity or government
programs, for example. Teaching students what the issues are and how they should be
considered is essential.

Back in the 1970s, there was a big push by the church in our area to create programs to
i t th ld l At th ti C th li h l d h i d dd
see more

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Alexander Fretheim > William Horan • 7 months ago

On the other hand though, if you use those Catholic Schools to generate profits that you
then use to help the poor, it may be okay. Basically, the policy should be this: we either
keep the cost low enough to allow poor families tuition, or we keep the cost high enough
to actually make money off the children of the rich and middle-class, NOTHING in
between. (To some degree, you can use a scholarship program to achieve a bit of both,
which has the nice side benefits of giving your unfortunate kids lots of handy connections
from former classmates who just so happen to own major corporations, although I will be
the first to admit that paradise does not exist on this Earth.)
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Randall • a year ago

Many Christans like to throw out the abominations but don't like to here in Ezikel 18 it speaks of
not helping the poor and needy is a abomination , Jesus told the rich man go sell Everything and
follow me Tithing is not the charity that the Bible speaks of when it says to give to the poor
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Alexander Fretheim > Randall • 7 months ago

Yes although He did not actually tell Zaccheus (Luke 19) the same thing. Instead, He
gave Zaccheus a long instruction, with the Luke version of the Parable of the Talents, in
growing his wealth so as to better serve his community for the sake of His kingdom,
AFTER Zaccheus had pledged HALF of his wealth to the poor and to repay any he had
wronged four-fold. Unlike the Matthew version, the Luke version also includes the
servants enjoying some of the wealth left by their master, probably because the
communal living period of the Church's history had already ended by the time Luke was
written. The Catholic Church has always taught that there are many vocations, clearly
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Jesus was guiding the two to different vocations.

One overlooked detail is it is pretty clear from the passage that if the rich young man had
followed Jesus, he would have gotten to be one of THE TWELVE. This leaves us with the
additional irony that he would be a known name even today and a cornerstone of the
Church, instead of a name forgotten to history and probably blood shed in the Judeo-
Roman War.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Jack McGrath • 2 years ago

No doubt most do not give enough, if any, preference to the poor. How many homilies rationalize
Jesus's statement that it's easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of heaven?

At the same time, note the posturing around "having a heart for the poor" and citing "the
preferential option of the poor" while giving cover to the rejection and ignoring of church
teaching. Social Justice Catholics who reject Chuch teaching against contraception, SSS and
abortion are almost as disillusioned as Judas Iscariot professing concern for the poor.
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Alexander Fretheim > Jack McGrath • 7 months ago

Indeed, the rich man only refused to give bread, they want to take away the poor's
greatest gifts.
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For queen and country • a year ago

Poor in spirit not just the trendy, politicized, "social justice", RICH BAD, POOR GOOD materialist
over-tones from the late-1960's
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

7Seeker > For queen and country • a year ago

Actually go back to 1891 and Leo XIII's call for the rights of workers. What's "trendy" to
use your language is disparaging workers and laying them off thus creating a new
generation of poor.
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

onlein > 7Seeker • 7 months ago

I just read this by Robert Ellsberg in the latest Maryknoll magazine:
"The pope reminds us that mercy is not simply an individual response to need. It
is also embodied in social policies that show care for the hungry, the sick, the
stranger. In a time when national policies often seem to be animated by a spirit of
anti-mercy, the pope's message clearly rises above the comfortable pieties."
Taxes are the way our government pools resources, similar to the way Jesus'
followers did on a much smaller scale, to meet needs.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Al d F th i >F d t 7 th
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Alexander Fretheim > For queen and country • 7 months ago
Indeed, a true citizen Catholic should not be rich bad poor good, but rich good poor
good, for they were both made by God in His Image, and are both His treasure. The rich
should care for the poor as much or more to heal their own souls as to heal the poor -
after all, God could have simply made everyone rich! That means that we should care for
the poor, while also exorcising neo-pagan environmentalist demons who are convinced
that the oil industry is unsalvageably evil. After all, astronomy teaches us that God has
trillions of Earths and this one will not last more than a billion years from this day,
whereas the human soul is eternal; Christ did not sacrifice on the cross for trees and
shrubs or this perishable ball of dust Earth. Yes, it contains His beauty, so do "the
grasses of the field here today and tomorrow thrown in to the oven".
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

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