Option for the Poor

"Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue to oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow"

Isaiah 1:7

The option for the poor reminds us of God’s preferential love for the poorest and most vulnerable people. God’s love is universal; he does not side with oppressors but loves the humble.

This principle is believed to have originated from the Liberation Theology movement in Latin America. For the first time, people living in poverty in the slums were holding the Bible in their own hands and imagining a world free from injustice. This radical thinking shaped CAFOD’s early work in the 1960s. 

Jesus taught us that when we feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, look after the sick and visit the imprisoned, we are looking after him.