he 5th Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops (CELAM), held at Aparecida Brazil from May 13 to 31, reaffirmed a preferential option for the poor, with a program for Christian life

Pope John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter “Novo Millenio Ineunte,” affirmed that “there is a special presence of Christ in the poor, and this requires the Church to make a preferential option for them.” (NMI #49). “Preferential” according to the Document of the Conference in Aparecida, and explained in the words of Pope Benedict XVI on June 11, “implies that it should involve all our pastoral structures and priorities.” (DA 410). The poor are a sacramental presence of Christ for the Church, both mysterious and real. “Without the poor, there is no salvation – said Bishop Pedro Casaldaliga – and without the poor, there is no Church, without the poor there is no Gospel.”
This is a particular vision of the tradition of the Conferences in Latin America, starting with Medellin (1968), Puebla (1979) and Santo Domingo (1992), and now affirmed once again at Aparecida. Yet, it is cause of tensions and conflicts. The church, in fact, was accused of becoming sectarian and Marxist, for if God loves everyone without preferences and discrimination, how can we hold that the Church’s option is for the poor? Why is it that the poor are so important for its mission?

The Chosen. Without a doubt, God loves everyone. Yet throughout the Bible, when it comes to justice, God is one-sided. The word “option” means a decision, a choice, a guiding principle. In Exodus, for example, God heard the cries of the poor who were unjustly treated and in slavery, and brought them out of Egypt towards the Promised Land (see Ex. 3:7-10). This choice clearly shows the nature of God, his work toward the defeat of evil, his option for justice, his mission in the world as the one who frees the oppressed. The people of Israel is the chosen people of Yahweh, a choice of his selfless and unconditional love for those who suffer, the defenseless, and those who do not count. God chose to side with the defeated and humiliated, not the side of the winners and powerful. “It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations. It was because the Lord loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn to your fathers.” (Dt. 7:7-8)

The poor are indeed called to become subjects and protagonists of the Gospel proclamation and the realization of the Reign of God, converting themselves to the Good News for the whole Church and humanity

The Elect. The point of arrival of the covenant with God is represented by the beatitudes of the Gospel. The hope of the poor is rooted on the image of the Reign proclaimed by Jesus. The hearers of this message are those who are hungry, unjustly treated, the oppressed, the afflicted, the prisoners, the blind, the deaf, the sick and the maltreated. And this Good News for the poor becomes instantly bad news for the rich and powerful (see Lk. 1:52-53), because the rich tend to accumulate and in the process forget to be companions of the poor. It is indeed a difficult task to enter the Reign of God. (see Mt. 19:16-26).

The Called. Nevertheless, the poor are not simple objects of the mercy of God and his promises. They are indeed called to become subjects and protagonists of the Gospel proclamation and the realization of the Reign of God, converting themselves to the Good News for the whole Church and humanity. The Church in Latin America understood the potential of this evangelization by the poor. The Document of Aparecida affirms: “Day after day, the poor become subjects of evangelization and integral human promotion: they teach the faith to their children, they live in constant solidarity with relatives and neighbors, they seek God, and bring life in the journey of the Church.” (DA 412)

The Sent. There is more. The poor cannot be only those who hear and become protagonists of the plan of God. They are even more manifestation of the power of God, missionaries and messengers sent from the Father, lived presence of the Son, and “generated” in the Spirit, which the Church tradition calls “the Father of the poor.” In them, the Church “sees the image of its poor and suffering Founder.” (LG 8c), for “when I was hungry, you gave me food…” (Mt. 25:35-36). For this reason, the Document of Aparecida states “the encounter with Jesus Christ in the poor is a constitutive dimension of our faith in Jesus Christ.” (DA 272). And quoting the words of St. John Chrisostom, it continues: “Do you really want to honor the body of Christ? Don’t be inconsistent. Don’t you go to the temple with mantles of purple, while outside there are those who are cold and in need.” (DA 368)

The Visible. The Church of Latin America feels strongly about this call from the Lord that, as the Document of Santo Domingo says “we want to discover our true face in the face of our brothers and sisters who suffer.” (DSD 179). This “calls all Christians to a personal and ecclesial conversion” (DSD 178), so that “we can achieve fully a daily identity with the poor Christ and with his poor ones.” (DP 1140), and that “our Church will be ever a companion of the journey of our brothers and sisters who are poor, even those who lost their lives through martyrdom.” (DA 410).

The Witnesses. It is necessary, therefore, that the Church becomes poor to imitate the poor, rediscovering in poverty its better way of witnessing and proclaiming the Gospel. “The Gospel poverty – affirms Puebla – unites the attitude of complete trust in God with our simple, sober and austere lives, which separates us from the temptation of coveting and pride.” (DP 1149). The Bishops at Aparecida remark: “The disciples and missionaries of Christ promote a culture of sharing at all levels against a dominant culture of selfish amassing of resources. The disciples assume seriously the virtue of poverty as a sober lifestyle so as to meet and help the needs of brothers and sisters who live in dire need.” (DA 559)

The Committed. Besides being sign, the Church is called to take a concrete commitment to solidarity with those who are experiencing crosses in human history, and to seek out the reasons. The Conference of Aparecida translated this Gospel need with a strong defense of the rights of the poor, a commitment to be with them, befriend them, and serve them. These attitudes become concrete steps and gestures, sustaining the means of those who are excluded, so that they become subjects of their transformation of the situation they live in. (DA 408, 411-412).

The option for the poor practically implies a “dislocation” by the Church, in terms of perceiving, questioning and understanding the realities of this world from the side of the victims and unjustly deprived. It also calls the church to build on a plan towards a just and compassionate world, significantly “opposed” to the one we see today. It is a world without Lazaruses or Diveses. “It will be a family of equals,” as the local Patriarch of the Island of Bananal dreamed of.

Fr. Steve Raschietti, s.x.
From Familia Xaveriana (Xaverian Newsletter of Brazil)