Concept of the Poor: Who are the

Poor?
à
 
 
 



Material poverty
‡ It usually brings along with it the other
qualifications of poverty.
‡ The Bible says that Jesus was poor. He was
materially poor.
‡ The Church documents of our days speak of the
poor, it often means first of all the materially
poor.
 CLASS SITUATION IN THE
PHILIPPINES IN 2005
2006 McCann Inter-Generation Study


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HH Income: P100,00 or more/mo or P3,300/day

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HH Income P30,00 to P50,000/mo or P1,000 to
P1600/day (C2); P50,000 to P100,000/mo
 CLASS SITUATION IN THE
PHILIPPINES IN 2005

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HH income: P7,000/mo to P30,000/mo or
P230/day to P1,000/day

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HH income: P7,000/mo to as low as P1500/mo
or P230/day to P50/day.
 Education
Philippine Star May 27, 2007

· 6 million children aged 6-15 are out of

elementary and high school.
· 10.5 million citizens aged 16-77 are
illiterate or innumerate.
· 6 out of 1000 grade six public school
students are qualified for high school,
and 2 out of 100 public high school
graduates are qualified for college.
 Education
19% of public school teachers are not
capable to teach English.
10,000 teachers are needed
nationwide for the public schools
In 2006 out of 45 nations surveyed,
Filipino students rank 41st in
nd
Science and 42 in Math.
 Indications of Poverty
‡ 19% of Filipinos (15 million) are very poor,
living on $1 (50 PhP) a day, i.e., PhP 1500 a
month
‡ 43 million Filipinos live on $2 (100 PhP) a
day, i.e., PhP 3000 a month u
 

    
‡ 1.4 million (20.3%) of the projected 6.7
million Filipino rural household families and
1.6 million (14.8%) of the projected 10.6
million urban households experienced
unwanted hunger at least once in the past 3
months u     !  "
 Indications of Poverty
‡ 608,370 houses needed to answer the
housing problem of the nation
‡ Unemployment rate: 8.2 % u#  "
‡ Underemployment rate: 17-22%; roughly 1
out of 5 workers want additional hours of
work u $%  "
‡ 977,552 ± total number of OFWs deployed
in 2005.
 Indications of Poverty
‡ A World Bank study shows the Philippines
has the second lowest in both per-capita
health expenditure and health spending as
a percentage of GDP
‡ According to Health Secretary Duque
some 6,000 Filipino doctors are presently
studying nursing
‡ According to Dr. Castro, Pres. Of the Phil.
Medical Association, 30% of the more or
less 100,00 Filipino doctors are now
abroad.
 What attitudes can we have
towards the poor?
1. DISDAIN.
2. INDIFFERENCE.
3. PATRONIZING.
4. USING THE POOR.
5. GENUINE
CONCERN AND
lOVE.
Nelson Mandela
Overcoming poverty
is not a gesture of
charity. It is an act of
justice. Poverty is
not natural; it is
man-made and can
be eradicated by the
actions of human
beings.
*Action in behalf of justice and
participation in the transformation of
the world fully appear to us as a
constitutive dimension of the
preaching of the Gospel, or, in other
words, of the Church mission for the
redemption of the human race and its
liberation from any oppressive
situationO


  

 
 We are in solidarity with the poor
because:
1. They are the most
in need.
2. They are the great
majority of our
people.
3. It is the way of
Jesus Christ.
 When John the Baptist was having
doubts about Jesus, Jesus¶ answer to John¶s
question: ³Are you the one who is to come or
are we to expect someone else?´ was: ³K

  
     
 
      
       
         
           
   (Lk 7, 20-21) The sign that Jesus
gave that he is the one is what he was doing
to the poor and the oppressed.
 
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³The world is quite thorny for the poor. No

one will voluntarily make room for them.
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 How quickly they can build
up their solidarity and hence the
countervailing power« determines the
extent of benefits which will accrue the
poor.´
 The CHURCH OF THE
POOR«.
‡ Embraces and practices the spirit of
evangelical poverty; it combines
detachment from possessions with
profound trust to the Lord.
‡ Shows special love, a love of preference,
for the poor.
‡ Does not discriminate against the poor, but
vindicates their rights.
‡ Gives preferential attention to the poor.
The CHURCH OF THE POOR«.
‡ Has pastors and leaders who will
learn to be with, work with, and
learn with, and learn from the
poor.
‡ Not only evangelizes the poor, but
recognizes that the poor will
themselves become true
evangelizers.
‡ Orients and tilts the center of
gravity of the entire community in
favor of the needy.
 Diakonia as a responsibility
of the Church
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Role of the Church in bringing about
a just social order
The Church is duty-bound to offer,
through the purification of reason and
through ethical formation, her own
specific contribution towards
understanding the requirements of justice
and achieving them politically«. The
Church cannot and must not remain on
the sidelines in the fight for justice. u


Role of the Church in bringing about
a just social order
The Church has to play her part through
rational argument and she has to reawaken
the spiritual energy without which justice,
which always demands sacrifice, cannot
prevail and prosper. A just society must be
the achievement of politics, not the Church.
But the promotion of justice thru efforts to
bring about openness of mind and will to the
demands of the common good is something
which concerns the Church deeply u
 

 LET US BEGIN THE EFFORT
** That the       
be part of formation in faith for every
one, at all levels of laity, religious and
clergy.
** That the formation of 
    be a priority task in
catechesis, media, schools and other
apostolates of formation.
 Benedict VI:
= # 91

In a particular way, the Christian laity,

formed at the school of the Eucharist, are called
to assume their specific political and social
responsibilities. To do so, they need to be
adequately prepared through practical
education in charity and justice. To this end, the
Synod considered it necessary for Dioceses
and Christian communities to teach and
promote the Church¶s social doctrine.
D

 

  
 

  
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