1.

Unequal Distribution of the World's Resources:

Excerpted Text from JW:
the influence of the new industrial and technological
order favors the concentration of wealth, power and decisionmaking in the hands of a small public or private controlling group.
Economic injustice and lack of social participation keep people from
attaining their basic human and civil rights. (no.9)
Comments:
(2) Wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few while the broad of
masses of people own little. Distribution becomes more compelling in
present times when technological advances have made possible the ever
increasing production of wealth. Wealth cannot be left piling up in the hands
of a few. It has to be divided equitably among the people, for the stability of
society itself. Actually, it is not that difficult to re-distribute wealth, if there
be the political will to do it. The best of plans, however, flounder before a
government that favors with the rich. And this, unfortunately, is the case of
the Philippines. All the powers of government, from the Barangay Captain to
the President of the Philippines, are in the hands of landlords and capitalists,
local as well as foreign, who naturally make use of such power to protect
and promote their interests, thereby becoming richer and richer.
(3) Industry today is technologically advanced, producing goods of all kinds
with great efficiency. One needs to be perceptive, however, regarding
modernization in the countryside. We have to be sure as to what kind of
industrialization to follow. For not all kinds of modernization help the
peasants. There is an industrialization that, instead of increasing the income
of peasants, robs them of their money. Of this is the industrialization
imposed on the peasants by monopoly capital.
(4) Inequalities exist in the Philippines. One region is to an extent

developed, while other regions are depressed. The most developed region in
the Philippines is the National Capital Region, Metro Manila namely, while
the least developed are Bicol, Cagayan Valley, Eastern Visayas and
Mindanao. (Ibon: Facts and Figures, November 15, 1989, p.1)
(5) Industrial nations control the wealth of the former colonies

Scriptural Sources:
Excerpted Texts from JW:
the present-day situation urges us to listen with a humble and open
heart to the word of God, as he shows us new paths towards action in the cause of
justice in the world. (no.29)
In the Old Testament God reveals himself to us as the liberator of the
oppressed It is only in the observance of the duties of justice that God is truly
recognized as the liberator of the oppressed. (no.30)
Christ identified himself with his least ones, as he stated: As you did it
to one of the least of these you did it to me Mt. 25:40 (no. 31)
Christian love of neighbor and justice cannot be separated (no. 34)

Comments:
(1) The document emphasizes that there is a very close connection between our
relationship to God and our relationship to our neighbor. The bishops want to
repudiate that kind of dualism which would see Christianity as spiritual and otherworldly in its essential character, so that issues of justice in this world are of
secondary or peripheral importance to it. They insist that the present situation of
the world, seen in the light of faith, calls us back to the very essence of the
Christian message.

(2) Jesus Christ revealed himself as the fullness of Gods justice and made present
Gods kingdom of justice and love. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is present whenever
justice and love is practiced by those who profess to follow Him. The teaching of
Jesus on social justice is summarized in the sermon on the Mount and in the
beatitudes (Lk. 6:20-26).

(3) The call of Moses gives an even sharper picture of God as liberating His people.
Out of the burning bush the Lord said: I have witnessed the affliction of my people
in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers Come
now, I will send you to Pharaoh to lead my people out of Egypt. (Ex. 3:7, 10)

(4) The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of freedom and a force for liberation
liberation that is first and foremost liberation from the radical slavery of sin. Its end
and its goal is the freedom of the sons of God, which is the gift of grace. It calls for
freedom from many different kinds of slavery in the cultural, economic, social and
political spheres, all of which derive ultimately from sin, and so prevent people from
living in a manner befitting their dignity (Instruction on Theology of Liberation,
Introduction).

(5) The Exodus liberation of the Old Testament is the background for Jesus saving
work as the new Moses. He teaches a new hierarchy of values that undermined the
oppressive social structures of his day. But how did Jesus actually liberate? First, he
exposed the enslaving, corrupting power of riches. Jesus showed that giving was
better that taking, sharing more liberating than hoarding. For Jesus, the key to
economic liberation was twofold: 1.) to free human hearts from their greed and selfseeking; and 2.) to inspire them with respect for other, sensitivity and compassion
for the needy, and a generous, outgoing love for those in want. Second, Jesus
taught that any power not rooted in mutual service was enslaving and oppressive.
Whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all. Love is
ultimately the only power that sets people free. Third, Jesus liberated his followers
from the common social prejudices that bound them. These were the customary
ways of honoring the wise and the rich while discriminating against foreigners,
women, public sinners and outcasts. He taught concern for the little ones of the
Kingdom. Finally, Jesus freed his contemporaries from mere external, legalistic
religious obedience to the Law by internalizing and prioritizing its obligations (nos.
496-498, Catechism for Filipino Catholics).

(6) Christian Love can be authentic only if it awakens individuals to their social and
communitarian responsibilities. PCP ll states: While the demand for justice is
implied in love, still justice attains its inner fullness only in love. For in justice, the
other person can remain another, an alien. In love the other is a friend, even a
brother or sister in Christ. (305)

2. Structural Injustice:
Excerpted Texts from JW:
In the face of international systems of domination, the bringing about of
justice depends more and more on the determined will for development. (no.13)
that determined will asserts itself in a struggle for ones rights and
self-expression (no.14)
objective obstacles which social structures place in the way of
conversion of hearts colonial domination may evolve into a new form of
colonialism in which the developing nations will be the victims of the interplay of
international economic forces. (no. 16)

Comments:
(1.) The document does not oppose personal conversion to structural reform, not
does it merely juxtapose the two. Instead it indicates how the former is conditioned
by the latter, for it speaks of the objective obstacles which social structures place in
the way of conversion of hearts. (2.) Many bishops at the Synod spoke out
strongly about structural injustice at the international level (Option For The Poor by
Donal Dorr, p. 178)
(3.) The present Structural injustice in the International Economic Order is linked to
the Colonial Domination of the past (Imperialism).
(4.) Colonialism is direct foreign rule while neocolonialism is indirect. In colonialism
the foreigners themselves are the supreme rules, holding the positions of President,
Governor general, Supreme Court Justices, etc. In neocolonialism the natives are the
Presidents, Governors, or Justices, but they are more so in name than in reality, for
they are held in tow by foreign master, and do the foreign masters bidding in all the
things that really count. In neocolonialism the rulers rule through native surrogates.

(5.) The rich industrial nations did not want to lose the wealth they got from the
colonies. Unable now to hold on the colonies because of the determined opposition
and rebellion of the natives, they instituted a system of government wherein,
without ruling directly the country, they got nonetheless the wealth. They saw to it
that the new officials in government be their puppets.
(6.) Today imperialism rules the world. The foreign multinational corporations,
based in and owned by the rich industrial nations, have their tentacles all over the
world, owning wholly or in part businesses all over the world.
(7.) The danger of Imperialism can be avoided only by LIBERATION. JW speaks of
attaining LIBERATION through DEVELOPMENT.

2. Role of the Church

Texts excerpted from JW
The Church has received from Christ the mission of preaching
the Gospel message to proclaim justice on the social, national
and international level, and to denounce instances of injustice,
when the fundamental rights of people and their very salvation
demand it of giving witness before the world of the need for
love and justtic3 contained in the Gospel message (no. 36)
Her mission involves defending and promoting the
dignity and fundamental rights of the human person. (no. 37)
Christians ought to fulfill their temporal obligations
with fidelity and competence. They should act as a leaven in the
world, in their family, professional, social, cultural and political
life (no. 38)
Comments
(1)
A balance must be maintained between the evangelizing mission of
proclaiming the Gospel and the trust for justice and liberation.
Evangelization and human liberation, while not identical, are clearly
intimately connected. PCP ll speaks of a renewed evangelization which
does not stop at the building of the Church. It seeks to transform the
whole fabric of society according to the values of the kingdom and of
Christ. Thus, the Church promotes human development, integral
liberation, justice and peace in society and the integrity of creation. The
need for such evangelization is shown by the fact that while our churches
are filled on Sundays, our society remains a sick society. (no., 1419,
Catechism for Filipino Catholics )
(2)

The mission of the Church in the Philippines today is: To help build

truly Filipino communities of Faith, whose resources are directed towards

total human development, the establishment of Justice and National
reconciliation. (Church and Politics by Bishop Teodoro Bacani, p.13)

A WORD OF HOPE

74. The power of the Spirit, who raised Christ from the dead, is
continuously at work in the world. Through the generous sons and
daughters of the Church likewise, the People of God is present in the
midst of the poor and of those who suffer oppression and persecution; it
lives in its own flesh and its own heart the Passion of Christ and bears
witness to his resurrection.
75. The entire creation has been groaning till now in an act of giving birth,
as it waits for the glory of the children of God to be revealed (cf. Rom
8:22). Let Christians therefore be convinced that they will yet find the
fruits of their own nature and effort cleansed of all impurities in the new
earth which God is now preparing for them, and in which there will be the
kingdom of justice and love, a kingdom which will be fully perfected when
the Lord will come himself.
76. Hope in the coming kingdom is already beginning to take root in the
hearts of people. The radical transformation of the world in the Paschal
Mystery of the Lord gives full meaning to the efforts of people, and in
particular of the young, to lessen injustice, violence and hatred and to
advance all together in justice, freedom, kinship and love.
77. At the same time as it proclaims the Gospel of the Lord, its Redeemer
and Savior, the Church calls on all, especially the poor, the oppressed and
the afflicted, to cooperate with God to bring about liberation from every

sin and to build a world which will reach the fullness of creation only when
it becomes the work of people for people.