Poverty is not just material. It is also moral and spiritual. Poverty is an affront to human dignity, and so the Church has always taught a preferential option for the poor.
Preferential Option for the Poor Articles
All, Preferential Option for the Poor, Secularism
By material and economic standards the ten poorest countries are in Africa. Conversely, the ten richest countries are mostly in Europe. But this isn't the whole story.
All, Preferential Option for the Poor
Poverty is not just material. It is also moral and spiritual. Poverty is an affront to human dignity, and so the Church has always taught a preferential option for the poor.