Introduction In a 1962 radio address Pope John XXIII said: “Confronted by the underdeveloped countries, the Church presents herself as she is and wants to be: the Church of all men, (sic)1 and in particular the Church of the poor.2 While the Pope did not initially offer any specific theological, biblical, ecclesial, or pastoral framework for the realisation of such a Church, there was evidence that this ecclesial challenge had some bearing on the deliberations of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). We shall not meet the truest and deepest demands of our times; we shall not answer the hope of unity shared by all Christians, if we do no more than make the preaching of the Gospel to the poor one of the many themes of the Council. In fact, it is not a theme; it is in some measure the theme of the Council. If, as has often been repeated here, it is true to say that the aim of this Council is to bring the Church into closer conformity with the truth of the Gospel and to fit her better to meet the problems of our day, we can say that the central theme of this Council is the Church precisely in so far as she is the Church of the poor.3 There were a number of post Vatican II responses to this papal challenge and it will be my contention that these responses would become the major contributors to the formulation and development of the Church’s teaching known as the preferential option for the poor. The CELAM4 Conferences at Medellín, Colombia (1968), and Puebla, Mexico (1979); the emergence of liberation theology; the more recent ecclesial renewal proposed by Pope Francis, and the growing catalogue of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) will be critiqued in 1Throughout the course of this thesis there will be many quotes, including those from official Catholic Church documents that do not use inclusive language. The original quotes will be used but they express the author’s historical style and not my own. 2 Pope John XXIII, Radio Message to the Faithful, AAS 54, September 11, 1962. 3 Cardinal Lecaro, Documentation Catholique, March 3, 1963, col. 321, n. 2. 4 CELAM is an acronym for the Conference of Latin American Bishops. 2 relation to their contribution to the Catholic Church’s teaching on the preferential option for the poor. CST is the official teaching of the Catholic Church as presented by the Magisterium.5 It is an evolving body of work whereby each new document makes reference to its predecessors but also allows for new biblical, philosophical and theological insights to influence its content. The documents of CST display a capacity to adapt to changing historical contexts and therefore exhibit both continuity and innovation. Throughout the history of CST there has been a consistent challenge to society to protect and care for the poor. CST does not propose any specific political or economic theory but it does represent the Church’s documented attempt to bring gospel values to bear on the social and economic lives of all peoples. CST contains an underpinning optimism which argues that reasonable people of goodwill can sufficiently agree upon ethical principles that contribute to order, peace, justice and harmony in society. Despite the teaching on the preferential option for the poor being a component of CST, its major contributors were the CELAM Conferences at Medellín and Puebla, and the liberation theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez. In fact, the term “option for the poor” is synonymous with liberation theology.6 Liberation theology emerged in the late 1960s in the poorer nations of Latin America so it had specific historical and contextual origins. It sought ways of speaking about God’s love in the midst of the poverty and injustice that pervaded Latin America. 5 The Magisterium is the official and authoritative teaching body of the Catholic Church and consists of the Pope and Bishops. Its role is to safeguard the integrity and authenticity of Church teaching. 6 Gustavo Gutiérrez wrote: “If it were possible to quantify qualitative things, I would say that the preferential option for the poor forms 90 percent of liberation theology. This theology arises from the intention and goal to take seriously the challenge coming from poverty, the challenge to human consciousness, and, especially, the challenge to Christian consciousness.” “Liberation Theology in the Twenty-First Century,” in Romero’s Legacy: A Call to Peace and Justice, ed. Pilar Hogan Closkey and John Hogan (Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 45. 3 Liberation theology was, and is, both a praxis and communal theology. Liberation theology allows history to be a locus for theological reflection and for these reflections to help articulate a new theological narrative. As a praxis theology it is formed and informed by historical engagement; an engagement that is undertaken in the light of faith. On his election as Pope in 2013, Francis recalled the idea of a Church of the poor and has initiated an ecclesial renewal that offers a framework for the realisation of such a Church. Pope Francis’ renewal is an acknowledgement that Pope John XXIII’s initial challenge, despite a promising start, as is evidenced in the CELAM documents from Medellín and Puebla, and the emergence of liberation theology, failed to gain traction. The Church as a “Church of the Poor” remains an unrealised and somewhat controversial objective. This research project will present an argument that states that: 1. The teaching on the preferential option for the poor is an official teaching of the Catholic Church and as such needs to be effectively understood and applied by the various institutions and communities that represent the Church. 2. Liberation theology was the major contributor to the formulation and early development of the teaching and that utilisation of the more fruitful aspects of liberation theology could be beneficial when seeking to understand and apply the teaching. 3. That liberation theology is not the only contributor to the teaching and that the Church needs to develop ever new methodologies of promoting and disseminating the teaching throughout the Catholic world and beyond. 4. The preferential option for the poor is a theological teaching. The practise of this preferential option displays not only a commitment to Church teaching, but more 4 importantly an authentic witness to the life and mission of Jesus Christ. Fidelity to the teaching is a sign of our authentic discipleship. There are two important premises which are foundational to this thesis. The first is that poverty is defined as a moral, rather than economic problem. While economics can play a role in both the perpetuation and/or alleviation of poverty, its prolificacy and continuity deem it a moral issue. As a moral issue that impacts vast numbers of people, poverty challenges the Church to investigate its theological implications and poses the questions of what God would say to the poor and concomitantly to the non-poor. While the teaching on the preferential option for the poor represents the Church’s concern for the poor, the teaching should be primarily understood as an option grounded in the mission of Jesus Christ as illustrated in the Gospel. It is for this reason that the teaching resides in the realm of moral theology. The second premise is that there is a correlation between social justice and salvation. The theocentric nature of the preferential option for the poor should ensure that the teaching extends beyond the realm of any ethical theory or call to living an individual moral life. It is a teaching that should be evident in all components of the Church’s ecclesial structures. This evidence will include theological and scriptural teachings that bear witness to the teaching as central to the Church’s identity and mission. While this research project will argue that liberation theology was the major contributor to the formulation and development of the teaching of the preferential option for the poor, it will also argue that one does not need to be a liberation theologian to understand and apply 5 the teaching.7 This dissertation will claim that the teaching can be grounded in scriptural, experiential, and other theological sources that need not rely on some of the more controversial methodologies employed by the original liberation theologians.8 I would immediately qualify this statement by arguing that prior to the election of Pope Francis in 2013, it was only liberation theology that had provided the Catholic Church with an effective theological framework in which the teaching could be understood and applied. The methodology employed by this research project will focus on an assessment of the contribution that the official documents of CST have made in relation to the teaching on the preferential option for the poor. The examination will trace the historical journey of the teaching from its origins up until the current day. While this examination begins well before the emergence of liberation theology it will allow for an interpretation of how CST understood the Church’s commitment to the poor both pre and post the formulation of the teaching. The Medellin Documents and liberation theology are a necessary study in this dissertation for they are the primary formulators of the teaching that would eventually become the preferential option for the poor. Liberationist themes will continue throughout the thesis as its own maturation continued to offer insights into the understanding and application of the teaching. Despite references to episcopal appointments, historical contexts, theological, ecclesial and philosophical debates, this research project seeks to look at the Church’s historical response 7 Throughout the course of this thesis I will refer to the understanding and application of the preferential option for the poor.