Pope Francis has worked to keep in the public discourse the issue of
poverty understood in its widest possible sense, said the prefect of the
Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "Going well beyond a
merely economic conception of poverty, Pope Francis has tried to
indicate to the world the true poverty of the human condition in our
times: the poverty of body and soul, pointing out all the forces at work
in the world further impoverishing mankind," said Cardinal Gerhard Muller. He made the comments at a conference on poverty. In a keynote
discussion, Cardinal Muller was asked to speak about his 2014 book,
"Poor for the Poor: The Mission of the Church," released by the Vatican
Publishing House. Pope Francis wrote the preface to the book. "The
mission of the church is to free mankind from the poverty of our fallen
condition and constantly remind us that we are created in the image and
likeness of God; we are the object of his divine love; we are called to
the richness of eternal life with him," the cardinal said.
Born during the turbulent era of the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan rose above hardship and a lack of formal schooling to become a profound vessel of Christ’s mercy. After losing her father at a young age and working through her youth as a kitchen maid and nurse, her life radically changed one freezing night when she encountered a blind, paralyzed elderly woman with nowhere to go. Jeanne carried the woman back to her own home, placed her in her own bed, and began a lifelong mission of radical hospitality. This act of profound love blossomed into the Little Sisters of the Poor , a thriving community dedicated to sheltering and honoring the destitute elderly. Despite later facing heavy trials—including being unjustly sidelined and stripped of her leadership by a controlling chaplain—Jeanne accepted her obscurity and exile with a joyful spirit, resting her complete trust in God's hidden providence until her death in 1879. In our daily lives, Saint Jeanne Jugan invites us to lo...