Cultivating poverty of spirit

The root cause of poverty, or a deficiency of wealth, is a deficiency within the global human spirit. This poverty of values, the worst form of poverty, ultimately amounts to a lack of respect for the dignity of the human person, and a lack of self-respect can be both a symptom and a cause of poverty. More than enlarging existing money supplies, what is required is choosing to achieve a more equitable distribution and deployment of existing wealth and resource. This involves a moral choice as much as the formulation of new economic or social policies or programmes.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit". This lesson is more than ever necessary in these days of materialism athirst for the goods and pleasures of this earth. The rich should not place their happiness in things of earth nor spend their best efforts in the acquisition of them. Rather, considering themselves only as stewards of their earthly goods, let them be mindful of the account they must render of them_and value them as precious means that God has put into their hands for doing good; let them not fail, besides, to distribute of their abundance to the poor, according to the evangelical precept. But the poor too, in their turn, while engaged, according to the laws of charity and justice, in acquiring the necessities of life and also in bettering their condition, should always remain "poor in spirit," and hold spiritual goods in higher esteem than earthly property and pleasures. Let them remember that the world will never be able to rid itself of misery, sorrow and tribulation, which are the portion even of those who seem most prosperous. (Papal Encyclical, Divini Redemptoris, 19 March 1937).