Dead Man Walking

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to capital punishment.

In the Gospels, the poor are at the center of Jesus’s ministry. On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus announces, “blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20) and “the last shall be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). The Catholic Church has a long tradition of care for the poor, but modern Catholic social teaching (or social justice) calls for confronting the structural causes of poverty and alleviating the material conditions of the poor, rather than simply consoling them in their poverty. Inspired by activists such as Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton, Catholic Social Teaching calls for living among the poor and compelling governments to see the human costs of their policies. It also plays a role in the antiwar and environmental movements, understanding these as issues that pertain to the poor. While there are many priests and other Church officials associated with the social justice movement, its ranks are usually filled by laity or nuns such as Prejean, and there is often tension between movement activists and the Church hierarchy, who are often less willing to wade into issues they view as politically divisive.