From ‘Option for the Poor’ to Option By the Poor: Flint’s Water and the Problem of Political Will

Lack of political will can be seen when a moral truth about social justic is clear and persuasive, but people fail to take action because they are not invested. Lisa Sowle Cahill, Ph.D., professor of theology at Boston College, uses the example of the Flint water crisis to evaluate how the rhetoric of Catholic social teaching can gain real political action. She asserts that CST must be more explicit about identifying injustice as a social sin, and the Church must address political inaction accordingly.

The 2019 Center for Social Concerns Catholic Social Tradition Conference, “Option for the Poor: Engaging the Social Tradition,” explored how Catholic social tradition can engage academics and practitioners in the challenges of the most marginalized and vulnerable people in societies today, as well as how the development and impact of the Latin American theological concept of option for the poor has been globally embraced to build a more just and humane world.

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About the Podcast:

The Signs of the Times Podcast presented by the Center of Social Concerns discusses principles of human dignity, solidarity with the marginalized, and the common good as they relate to current events.

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