Zero poverty

Open your eyes and look at poverty. Open your ears and listen to the voices of poor people. Open your heart and meet people. Open your mind and understand: we all are human persons!

The divide between the so-called poor people and those who are living in wealth is artificial and mainly man-made. The actual financial and economic crisis is deepening and sharpening that divide. This divide is harmful to the society as a whole and to each single person. Nobody should live in poverty because of unjust structures or unfair conditions. ‘Zero poverty’ is our moral claim. Caritas therefore believes that our societies need a new framework in which human rights are fully acknowledged and protected not because of sheer legal necessity, but because of the recognised dignity of the human person who is the source and the end of all rights and obligations. We believe that every single person is an image of God.

If you are going to open this paper you will find tools (part A) and stories (part B). Both are designed to be eye-openers to poverty in its diversity and multifaceted reality. Whether you choose to access the land of poverty through some proven analytical lenses or through real life stories, you will be guided by your own perception(s) and experience(s). Be open to convert your perspective(s) and test the approach chosen by those in our Caritas network who encounter poor people every day and those who study the phenomenon of poverty. We believe that every single person is a son or a daughter of God through Christ our Savior.

Caritas in Europe wants to contribute to a new way to look at poverty. Poverty is more than a lack of wellbeing. It affects the person in its body, its soul and its life. It affects the community where he or she lives. We can’t afford to lose a single person as a community of human beings.