Poor

Popular movements can spark the change needed to ensure a future that is no longer in the hands of elites and powerful people, but includes the poor, Pope Francis has written in the preface for a book to be published in September.

In the message, the pope called for Christians to understand the importance of embracing and assisting the poor, oppressed and outcast.

Echoing what Pope Francis said during a Mass in May, the bishop who heads the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development said, “The struggle of working people, of the poor” is not first a “social or political question. No! It is the Gospel, pure and simple.”

The Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square is not getting rave reviews: The backdrop does not look like a stable and the characters in need — hungry, naked, dead, imprisoned — don’t exactly evoke a silent night when all was cozy, calm and bright.

The latest version of a Republican measure in the Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act must be amended to protect poor and vulnerable Americans, said the chairmen of four U.S. bishops’ committees.

The World Day of the Poor — to be marked each year on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary time — will be celebrated Nov. 19 this year and will focus on the Apostle John’s call to love “not with words, but with deeds.” The pope is asking local churches to dedicate the week preceding the World Day of the Poor to creative initiatives fostering encounter, friendship, solidarity and concrete assistance.

People who don’t give money to the homeless because they think it will be spent on alcohol and not food should ask themselves what guilty pleasures they are secretly spending money on, Pope Francis said.

What are the primary responsibilities of lawmakers? And what guiding lights can politicians look toward to know with confidence that they are following a prudent course?