Preference for Those Who Are Vulnerable
Jesus teaches us to look at the world through the eyes of the poor as he did. He chose to be born poor, to encounter the world from the margins of social and economic life. His life teaches that a just society is achieved only when the needs of the poor are given first priority. In the pastoral Economic Justice for All the U.S. Catholic Bishops state, “The obligation to provide justice for all means that the poor have the single most urgent economic claim on the conscience of the nation.”
The option for the poor is essential to the attainment of the common good. A healthy community can be achieved only if its members give special attention to those with special needs, to those who are poor and on the margins of society. The moral test of a society is the way in which it treats its most poor and vulnerable, therefore we always examine public policies in terms of how they affect the poor.
Practical Application:
Fair & Just Taxation
Federal Budget Priorities
Living Wage
Social Safety Net
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