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INFORM-A^CTION

Issue Number 45 - August 2002

I was hungry and ...

In his most recent book A Presence that Disturbs, Anthony Gittins CSSp states that the fastest growing population group in the world is "the poor". By "the poor" he means those whose existence is precarious and who struggle to have the means to eat nutritious food, to have adequate housing, to provide the basics in health and education for their children, to access clean water and sanitation. The accelerating demographic of global poverty raises a provocative question: "who cares" - that is, besides the poor themselves?

The recent World Food Summit held in Rome on 10-13 June this year reflected on why hunger and poverty are increasing, with more than 800 million people still hungry on a daily basis, despite governments' commitments to address this distortion in the distribution of the world's most basic resource - food! The fact is that while the Heads of State of many poor, developing nations attended the summit the leaders of the rich developed nations stayed away in droves. The silent holocaust caused by hunger and starvation is not on the radar screens of those nations, presumably. The capacity exists to eliminate global hunger and starvation but the changes required are not in the interests of rich and powerful corporate interests.

The continual existence of mass hunger and poverty, in many instances abject poverty, is a huge social sin of commission and omission!

In relation to this, Professor Mary Ann Glendon, who delivered the Helder Camara Lecture this year, made the point that the global human rights project needed to recover a commitment to economic rights and social justice. Put starkly, rights such as the right to eat and the right to adequate shelter must be promoted as strongly as basic political rights. The elimination of poverty is as much a task of human rights activists as, for example, the elimination of torture and arbitrary detention. The lecture, which analyses Australia's contribution to the making of the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights, is available on the Caritas website. It is interesting reading.

At the conclusion of her lecture, Professor Glendon made the following observation about the contemporary Church's role in upholding the Declaration and in addressing global poverty:

Over the years the most consistent and vigorous institutional defender of all the Declaration's principles has been the Catholic Church. At a time when those affluent nations seem increasingly to be washing their hands of poor countries and peoples, it is often the Church, and only the Church, that continues to lift up before the world the moral imperative of addressing poverty.

This is a bold assertion and one which should not pass unexamined.

Certainly, the 110 year tradition of Catholic Social Teaching is calling Catholics to be in active solidarity with the poor and to work assiduously to eliminate poverty - via direct service and working for systemic change. Many dedicat-ed people of faith have created a long tradition of standing and working with the poor to overcome poverty. The origin of many apostolic Religious Congregations was based in a commitment to this. Further, many people of faith have also embraced voluntary poverty. However, it is fair to say that many Catholic institutions in the western, developed world have been very slow in taking up the preferential option for the poor in any serious way. Arguably, they exhibit much of the same apathy as national governments in this regard.

It is also presumptuous to claim that the Church is the 'only' consistent voice on this issue. This ignores the longstanding work of many NGOs, trade unions, welfare peak bodies and others who have been at the frontline of the struggle to address poverty both in Australia and overseas. Recent campaigns against World Bank policies, the WTO and the IMF have been led by non-Church groups.

Bold assertions aside, the greatest challenge facing people of faith is the growing demographic of poverty and hunger in our world. This 'sign of the times' must 'disturb' us. In the end, it is impossible to hide from the identification of Jesus with the poor and hungry in Matthew 25 - "when I was hungry you gave me food". It is a benchmark of discipleship. We simply must care and act if discipleship matters at all.

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		INFORM-A^CTION Issue Number 45 - August 2002 *I was hungry and ...* In his most recent book A Presence that Disturbs, Anthony Gittins CSSp states that the fastest growing population group in the world is "the poor". By "the poor" he means those whose existence is precarious and who struggle to have the means to eat nutritious food, to have adequate housing, to provide the basics in health and education for their children, to access clean water and sanitation. The accelerating demographic of global poverty raises a provocative question: "who cares" - that is, besides the poor themselves? The recent World Food Summit held in Rome on 10-13 June this year reflected on why hunger and poverty are increasing, with more than 800 million people still hungry on a daily basis, despite governments' commitments to address this distortion in the distribution of the world's most basic resource - food! The fact is that while the Heads of State of many poor, developing nations attended the summit the leaders of the rich developed nations stayed away in droves. The silent holocaust caused by hunger and starvation is not on the radar screens of those nations, presumably. The capacity exists to eliminate global hunger and starvation but the changes required are not in the interests of rich and powerful corporate interests. The continual existence of mass hunger and poverty, in many instances abject poverty, is a huge social sin of commission and omission! In relation to this, Professor Mary Ann Glendon, who delivered the Helder Camara Lecture this year, made the point that the global human rights project needed to recover a commitment to economic rights and social justice. Put starkly, rights such as the right to eat and the right to adequate shelter must be promoted as strongly as basic political rights. The elimination of poverty is as much a task of human rights activists as, for example, the elimination of torture and arbitrary detention. The lecture, which analyses Australia's contribution to the making of the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights, is available on the Caritas website. It is interesting reading. At the conclusion of her lecture, Professor Glendon made the following observation about the contemporary Church's role in upholding the Declaration and in addressing global poverty: Over the years the most consistent and vigorous institutional defender of all the Declaration's principles has been the Catholic Church. At a time when those affluent nations seem increasingly to be washing their hands of poor countries and peoples, it is often the Church, and only the Church, that continues to lift up before the world the moral imperative of addressing poverty. This is a bold assertion and one which should not pass unexamined. Certainly, the 110 year tradition of Catholic Social Teaching is calling Catholics to be in active solidarity with the poor and to work assiduously to eliminate poverty - via direct service and working for systemic change. Many dedicat-ed people of faith have created a long tradition of standing and working with the poor to overcome poverty. The origin of many apostolic Religious Congregations was based in a commitment to this. Further, many people of faith have also embraced voluntary poverty. However, it is fair to say that many Catholic institutions in the western, developed world have been very slow in taking up the preferential option for the poor in any serious way. Arguably, they exhibit much of the same apathy as national governments in this regard. It is also presumptuous to claim that the Church is the 'only' consistent voice on this issue. This ignores the longstanding work of many NGOs, trade unions, welfare peak bodies and others who have been at the frontline of the struggle to address poverty both in Australia and overseas. Recent campaigns against World Bank policies, the WTO and the IMF have been led by non-Church groups. Bold assertions aside, the greatest challenge facing people of faith is the growing demographic of poverty and hunger in our world. This 'sign of the times' must 'disturb' us. In the end, it is impossible to hide from the identification of Jesus with the poor and hungry in Matthew 25 - "when I was hungry you gave me food". It is a benchmark of discipleship. We simply must care and act if discipleship matters at all. Next Newsletter Article Newsletter Index