Pobresa i exclusió social

This booklet is a wake-up call about the situation in which more than half the world’s population is now living. For those living in the cities, it becomes increasingly more difficult to think about what lies behind a chicken, or a pineapple, which are purchased in large retail chains like Carrefour or Mercadona.  Meanwhile some 3 billion persons continue to produce almost all the food they consume, and they are effectively feeding 70% of the world population.

Traditionally the gospel message has been commonly seen as a utopian ideal that appeals to all. However, we need only reflect on the tragic fate of Jesus and that of the Christian martyrs of all ages to conclude unequivocally that the horizon of God’s kingdom is basically dystopian. “The evangelical utopias/dystopias are located beyond the moral sphere. They do not seek to reward the virtuous poor and punish the covetous rich.

Corporations, soldiers, politicians, NGOs …. and in the center, the suffering masses. These are the main actors in a drama that has been people’s daily experience in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for decades now, but the situation has grown worse due to the high demand for certain minerals that are especially plentiful in the African subsoil. This booklet introduces us to the complexities of this problem that exposes the contradictions of globalization.

No one doubts that the winds of change are blowing, and we are only beginning to perceive their power and their vastness.  In this context the Church is faced with a dilemma: should she draw back defensively or should she respond to the voice of the Spirit of God as revealed in a multitude of signs?  The author explores some of those signs and urges the Church toward a profound renewal so that she becomes herself a sign of hope for our world.

This booklet aims to analyse which elements characterise the political, social and economic reality of Africa against the backdrop of the new political and economic context of the modern world, (multipolarity, the leadership of emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil, as well as so-called South-South Cooperation). Is Africa facing a new and hopeful future in contrast with a present and a past that has been dominated by war, hunger and poverty?