Can Christians who have an excess of goods fail to hear the cry of the poor?

Cylone Justin struck Papua New Guinea over eighteen months ago. Yet today most of the people affected, and there are thousands of them, have not recovered sufficiently. Churches are still lying in ruins. Homes have not been rebuilt. Schools and Health Centres await reconstruction. Even as you read this, the people are in need of adequate water supply. Are we prepared to do nothing?

Pope John Paul II reminds us that 'The Church will not hesitate to take up the cause of the poor and to become the voice of those who are not heard when they speak up, not to demand charity but to ask for justice. Yes, the preference of the poor is a Christian preference! In the whole world the Church wants to be the Church of the Poor.'

Address to the slum people of Vidigal, Rio De Janeiro