NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

    VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- At his weekly public audience on October 27, Pope John Paul II said that the "preferential option for the poor" is a "specific dimension" of the charity to which Christians are called.

    The Pope, announcing that he would make charity the theme of his catechetical talks for a series of Wednesday audiences, observed that poverty remains a problem in today's world, particularly in the developing countries. "Millions of people live in inhuman conditions, and many literally die of hunger," he said.

    The Holy Father argued that it is impossible to bring the message of Christ to the poor without at the same time "working with them, in the name of Christ, to help build a more just society." While the Church has always worked for the benefit of the needy, John Paul suggested that the Jubilee Year would offer a special opportunity for new efforts to spark "the conversion of hearts" through which the Holy Spirit could produce "new witnesses of charity." He called upon all Christians and men of good will to work for "the necessary structural changes" in society that would ease the sufferings of the poor.

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