Option for the poor

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The option for the poor is a theological principle that emphasizes particular partisanship for the poor and was rediscovered in the Latin American churches of the 1960s and 1970s, which were shaped by the theology of liberation .

Historical roots

The principle is related to biblical roots, e.g. B. the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount and the world and salvation ethos, which is expressed in Jesus' words and actions. God himself has therefore made a decision in favor of the poor.

The classical Catholic social teaching knows the principle of solidarity , but does not formulate any explicit priority for the poor. This is more the case in some documents of the Second Vatican Council, u. a. in Gaudium et Spes 1 and Lumen gentium 8. These texts were interpreted more specifically in Latin America. The starting point is the real experience of the life of the poor in a society characterized by exploitation and injustice. The design of Christian practice in the base communities reacts to this , whereby direct partisanship for the poor becomes visible. The emphasis on theological reflection corresponds to this. This approach decisively shaped the second general assembly of the Latin American Episcopate , which was part of the Latin American Catholic Magisterium, which met from August 24 to September 6, 1968 in Medellín (Colombia) . However, the expression “option for the poor” does not appear literally in the final documents.

The third General Assembly of the Latin American Episcopate in Puebla (Mexico) in 1979 then introduced the term “priority” (Spanish preferencial ) option for the poor into the discussion. This formulation was not without controversy. The final document of February 13, 1979 states, among other things:

“The primary option for the poor has as its goal the proclamation of Christ, who will enlighten them of their dignity, help them in their endeavors to be liberated from all their needs and guide them through the experience of evangelical poverty to communion with their Father and brothers . [...] This option, required by the annoying reality of the economic imbalance in Latin America, must lead to the establishment of dignified and fraternal coexistence and to building a just and free society. "

Pope John Paul II approved the Puebla Final Document on March 23, 1979.

In the instruction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Libertatis Conscientia of March 22, 1986 it says on the option for the poor :

“By loving the poor, the Church ultimately testifies to human dignity; she openly declares that he is worth more for what he is than for what he has. […] Far from […] caring for any part or area of ​​people, the primary option for the poor opens up the universality of the nature and mission of the Church; no one is excluded from this option. This is the reason why the Church cannot express this option through special sociological or ideological categories that would make this affection a partisan and conflictual choice. (DH 4761) "

The option for the poor represents a significant change of perspective: “The poor can no longer be treated as 'objects' of a paternalistically condescending church. In a church with the poor, which enters the world of the poor and shares its conditions in friendship and solidarity, the poor themselves become subjects of the church and their common faith ”; the poor are not only “the preferred addressees of the gospel, but also its bearers and heralds” (cf. Mt 11.25  EU ).

The Puebla paper also mentions a “priority option for the youth” [opción preferencial por los jóvenes]. Analogue formulations have been coined frequently since around 1990. For example, the German-Brazilian theologian Paulo Suess speaks of an "option for the others". These terms can partly be understood as a radicalization or concretization of the option for the poor, but partly they also serve the fight against liberation theology by tracing one of its central concepts back to its theological roots.

Consequences

“Option for the poor” means not only concrete assistance, but also placing the perspective of the poor as a critical corrective at the center of political and social action. The Christian social teaching , which for a long time was shaped by the concept of natural law and often not very flexible , was further developed by including the option for the poor.

Proponents of liberation theology and social-ethical research have increasingly used the option for the poor as a criterion for assessing environmental conflicts. The starting point for this demand is the observation that environmental degradation places a greater burden on individual social groups than others, for example with regard to the social consequences of climate change, which affects developing and emerging countries more than the industrialized countries that cause it. Since the consequences of ecological degradation are unevenly distributed socially and spatially, the church must also advocate on the side of the disenfranchised in environmental policy. A position paper of the German Bishops' Conference on Climate Change (2007) therefore advocates applying the “option for the poor” to the victims of climate change as well (paragraph 40).

Analogous development in ecumenism and the Protestant churches

The Darmstadt word of 1947 already named an "option for the poor" as a necessary consequence of the gospel and from there designated the anti-Marxism of German Protestantism as a historical guilt:

“We went astray when we overlooked that the economic materialism of Marxist teaching should have reminded the church of the mission and the promise of the community for the life and coexistence of people in this world. We have failed to make the cause of the poor and disenfranchised into the cause of Christianity according to the gospel of God's coming kingdom. "

But it was not until 1997 that the EKD and the German Bishops' Conference began to take up this challenge and formulated in their joint memorandum for a future in solidarity and justice :

“Christian charity primarily addresses the poor, the weak and the disadvantaged. In this way, the option becomes an obligatory criterion for action for the poor. "

They declared social justice to be the central concept of Christian social ethics, but did not deduce any structural changes in the area of ​​production or redistribution of capital power, but rather “equal opportunities” and “equal living conditions” (3.3.3.), I.e. using terms that are also used in almost all programs of political parties .

literature

  • Clodovis Boff, Jorge Pixley : The Option for the Poor. Patmos, Düsseldorf 1987 ( BThB, Experience of God and Justice ).
  • Gustavo Gutiérrez : The poor and the basic option. In: Ignacio Ellacuría , Jon Sobrino (eds.): Mysterium Liberationis. Basic concepts of the theology of liberation. 1st vol. Edition Exodus, Luzern 1995, pp. 293-311.
  • Juan Luis Segundo : The option between capitalism and socialism as the theological crux. In: Concilium (D) 10 (1974), pp. 434-443.
  • Clemens Sedmak (ed.): Option for the poor: The demarginalization of the concept of poverty in the sciences. Freiburg u. a. 2005. ISBN 9783451287770 .
  • Paulo Suess : The challenge from others. 500 years of Christianity in Latin America: Conquista - Slavery - Liberation. In: Communicatio Socialis 25 (1992), pp. 232-247.
  • Willi Knecht: The Church of Cajamarca. The challenge of an option for the poor. LIT-Verlag, Münster 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Puebla Document No. 1134.
  2. ^ DH 4632
  3. ^ DH 4633
  4. ↑ AAS 71 [1979], 527 f.
  5. ↑ AAS 79 (1987) 554-591, partly printed in DH 4750-4776
  6. ^ Medard Kehl: The Church. A Catholic ecclesiology. 3rd edition, Echter Verlag, Würzburg 1994, ISBN 3-429-01454-9 , p. 244f.
  7. ^ DH 4635
  8. ↑ Clodovis Boff / Jorge Pixley, The Option for the Poor: Experience of God and Justice. Düsseldorf 1987; Leonardo Boff, Our House, the Earth: Hearing the Cry of the Oppressed. Düsseldorf 1996, p. 197 ff .; Bettina Hiller / Johannes Dingler, "Poverty Orientations in Environmental Sciences - Contributions of Environmental Research to an 'Option for the Poor'" in: Clemens Sedmak (Ed.), Option for the Poor: The Demarginalization of the Concept of Poverty in Science. Freiburg u. a. 2005., ISBN 978-3451287770 , pp. 489-513.
  9. ↑ German Bishops' Conference (ed.), Climate Change: Focus on global, intergenerational and ecological justice. Bonn 2007. Similar in the argumentation: Evangelical Church in Germany / German Bishops' Conference (Ed.), For a Future in Solidarity and Justice ( Memento of the original from February 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ekd.de archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Word of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany and the German Bishops' Conference on the economic and social situation in Germany. Hanover / Bonn 1997, numbers 105 ff. - Further information: Thorsten Philipp, green zones of a learning community. Environmental protection as a place of action, activity and experience of the church. Munich 2009. ISBN 978-3865811776 .
  10. ↑ EKD and German Bishops' Conference: For a future in solidarity and justice ( Memento of the original dated February 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ekd.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . EKD website. Retrieved May 22, 2010.

source

  • Document of the 3rd General Assembly of the Latin American Episcopate in Puebla (Mexico) "La evangelización" on February 13, 1979, excerpts in: DH 4610 - 4635