Towards a Church of the Poor: The Work of an Ecumenical Group on the Church and the Poor - Softcover

(The communities of believers are not struggling only against unjust socio-economic conditions, they are also trying to walk the path towards justice and liberation with the poor of the earth. This is one way in which the good news of the Gospel is shared with those who are marginalized by prevailing patterns in economic production and consumption, as well as by social systems, and are pre- vented from having a really decisive presence in decision-making centres in today's world. In this book it is affirmed that the poor are those who were called by Jesus Christ to be heirs to the Kingdom. Their historical strength, which is not easily seen, is what has often moved, and is moving, history towards more justice and freedom. Participation of the churches in development must be understood as a sharing, in solidarity, of the expectations, pains and hopes of the poor and of their struggles for a better society. This implies that churches must continue to give major attention to the programmes through which they express their solidarity with the poor and the oppressed, because development is not for the poor, but can be achieved by them and with them when they become full participants in the pro- cesses which lead to justice and liberation)