40 days of solidarity with the poor.

Book 5 in the Faith Sharing series offers small group members the opportunity to explore Catholic social teaching on the theme of solidarity with the poor.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International] license. It is free to read at [Oxford Scholarship Online] and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Poverty is not only about material deprivation, but also about the subordination and disempowerment of poor populations. So why isn't the emancipation and empowerment of the poor a core goal of ethical arguments for poverty reduction? Deveaux argues in this book that philosophers fail to prioritize these ends, and to recognize the moral and political agency of poor people, because they still conceive of poverty narrowly and apolitically as mere needs scarcity. By comparison, poor activists and critical poverty researchers who see deprivation as structural exclusion and powerlessness advocate a "poor-centered," poor-led, approach to reducing poverty. Stuck in an older paradigm of poverty thinking, philosophers have failed to recognize the power and moral authority of poor communities--and their movements for justice and social change. If normative ethicists seek to contribute to proposals for just and durable poverty reduction, they will need to look to the insights and aims of "pro-poor," poor-led social movements. From rural landless workers in Brazil, to urban shack dwellers in South Africa, to unemployed workers impoverished by neoliberal economic policies in Argentina, poor-led organizations and movements advance a more political understanding of poverty--and of what is needed to eradicate it. Deveaux shows how these groups develop the political consciousness and collective capabilities of poor communities and help to create the basis for solidarity among poor populations. Defending the idea of a political responsibility for solidarity, she shows how nonpoor outsiders--individuals, institutions, and states--can help to advance a transformative anti-poverty agenda by supporting the efforts of these movements.

The Franciscan Story is varied and engrossing work which spans more than eight centuries. Beginning with St Francis, Maurice Carmody examines: . How the first Order grew rapidly after the time of St Francis (1182-1226), and how a simple brotherhood became an organised religious order which spread throughout Europe and beyond to implement papal policy in Church reform, missions, higher education and diplomacy. . How disagreements over whether Francis would have approved led to division and, from the sixteenth century onwards, how new orders formed - Conventual, Observant and Capuchin Franciscans as well as Riformati, Recollects and Alcantarines. . How women of the second Order, founded by Clare of Assisi (1194-1253) and her friend St Francis, have adapted and shared Franciscan ideals in a monastic setting since the thirteenth century. . How the third Order, which comprised laity and vowed religious men and women living in community, embraced the same values - a simple lifestyle, respect for creation and peaceful living - in ways that often profoundly influenced the society in which they lived. The Franciscan Story is an in-depth and deeply researched account of a religious movement that has influenced both Church and society in many countries since St Francis, il poverello, began it eight hundred years ago.

Jesus in Solidarity with His People: A Theologian Looks at Mark works from two premises. The first is that the Gospel of Mark is, from beginning to end, an Easter story. And the second is that the category of solidarity provides a contemporary key for understanding Mark's message about Jesus' life and mission. The book argues that the spiritual effectiveness of Mark's story will be determined largely by how much the reader is willing to live, like Jesus, in solidarity with God's people. The opening chapter surveys the range of theological matters that the text invites us to think about. Subsequent chapters return to those issues as they appear in the Gospel text.

"Poor-led social movements work to transform the structures that exclude and exploit people who live in poverty, and know that durable poverty reduction ultimately depends upon the political empowerment of the poor. Yet the knowledge and contributions of these movements have been largely neglected by philosophical analyses of severe poverty, which focus instead on the obligations of individuals and institutions in affluent states. The erasure of people living in poverty as central agents of justice puts philosophers out of step with progressive, pro-poor approaches to poverty and development. From rural landless workers in Brazil, to urban shack dwellers in South Africa, to unemployed workers impoverished by neoliberal economic policies in Argentina, poor-led organizations and movements advance a more political understanding of poverty - and of what is needed to eradicate it. This book shows how these groups develop the political consciousness and collective capabilities of poor communities, and help to create the basis for solidarity among poor populations. Defending the idea of a political responsibility for solidarity, Deveaux shows how nonpoor outsiders can also help to advance a transformative anti-poverty agenda by supporting the efforts of these movements"--

The Vision of Catholic Social Thought traces the emergence of solidarity and human rights as critical theological and philosophical pillars of the anthropology and ethics foundational to the development of Catholic social teaching. Meghan J. Clark argues that the integration of human rights and the virtue of solidarity at the root of the Catholic social tradition are the unique contributions Catholic thought makes to contemporary debates in ethics, political and philosophical theory. Building upon the historical framework of the development of Catholic social thought, drawing deeply from the papal encyclical tradition and the theological and ethical developments of Vatican II, Clark forwards a constructive vision of virtue and social practice, applying this critical question of human rights on the international stage.