Seeing Poverty as a Moral Call: Human Dignity and Social Structures
Seeing Poverty as a Call, Not a Statistic: How Recognizing Human Need Transforms Moral Imagination Poverty is often presented to us as data: percentages, graphs, thresholds, and rankings. While such information is useful for policy and planning, it can unintentionally distance us from the lived reality of human need. Catholic Social Teaching invites a deeper way of seeing—one that recognizes poverty not merely as a statistic, but as a moral call that addresses the conscience. In everyday life—at work, in consumption choices, and in community interactions—we encounter signs of poverty more often than we realize. Whether through precarious labor, unequal access to education, or environmental vulnerability, these experiences challenge how we understand responsibility, solidarity, and the dignity of the human person. “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40) This reflection explores how seeing poverty as a call, rather than an abs...
