In a homily on November 18, Day of the Poor, Pope Francis said: “The cry of the poor: it is the stifled cry of the unborn, of starving children, of young people more used to the explosion of bombs than happy shouts of the playground. It is the cry of the elderly, cast off and abandoned to themselves. It is the cry of all those who face the storms of life without the presence of a friend. It is the cry of all those forced to flee their homes and native land for an uncertain future. It is the cry of entire peoples, deprived even of the great natural resources at their disposal. It is the cry of every Lazarus who weeps while the wealthy few feast on what, in justice, belongs to all.

“Injustice is the perverse root of poverty. The cry of the poor daily grows louder but is heard less and less. Every day that cry gets louder, but every day heard less, drowned out by the din of the rich few, who grow ever fewer and more rich. The cry of the poor finds a hearing with God. Yet I ask, does it with us?”

All are loved by God

In a statement on Transgender Day of Remembrance, the Church in England and Wales said: “Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance and we pray for all people who are ill at ease with their gender, seek to change it, suffer for it and have been persecuted, and also killed. All people are loved by God and valued in their inherent God-given dignity.” 

Homeless Jesus

While blessing a sculpture called Homeless Jesus on November 18, Cardinal Orani Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro said: “Humanity has never produced so much wealth and has never seen such poverty. Terrible as it may seem, a certain portion of the population simply does not count, for the economy can survive without it. Excluded are the masses.” The statue was placed in front of the city’s cathedral at the end of a week-long series of events by Brazil’s Church to celebrate World Day of the Poor.

Fr Claudio Santos, parish priest of the cathedral, said: “The sculpture makes us look at those who live on the streets of our city as brothers and sisters; Pope Francis asks us to see Christ in the figureof the poor who live on our streets.” 

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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