Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life

The silence has been broken. I have often deplored lack of public discussion of U.S. poverty. Prodded by Pope Francis and the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty, leaders are responding to the pope’s indictment of an “economy of exclusion and inequality.” With his words and example, Pope Francis has started conversations on the airways and the Web, in politics and our homes, about “people [who] find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.”

In a “Washington read,” people scan the index of a book and then read only the pages involving themselves. Here is a Washington read of some of the political challenges in Pope Francis’ exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel.” (The pope’s words are italicized.)