The article discusses the category of the option for the poor, by answering four key questions: 1) What is the option for the poor?; 2) Who are the poor?; 3) Why the option for the poor?; 4) How to opt? The category of the option for the poor emerged in Latin America at the turn of the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century, as the fruit of an audit of faith and the personal, communitarian, social and ecclesial life . The author defines the category according to the teaching of the bishops (Medellin and Puebla), to John Paul II and Latin-American theologians . He highlights the need for clarifying the meaning of poverty and the poor, specifically of the current theological understanding of these concepts . He then describes main theological reasons of the option for the poor: God’s plan of salvation; the theology of creation; human dignity; the mystery of sin; the phenomenon of poverty as a place of proving the fundamental statements about God and Jesus Christ; an ecclesiological significance of the option for the poor. In the last part of the paper the author quotes the Polish translation of the so-called The Pact of St. Domitilla Catacombs, which illustrates one of more promising ways of implementing that option in both personal and ecclesial life.

The Christian laity is called to the ministry of evangelization in the Church and for the Church. In this work, basic ecclesial communities play an important role, because they are forming disciples of Christ and preparing them to bear testimony to the Gos-pel in the world. The communities have been initiated in the Church of South America and are centres of evangelization as a true expression of ecclesial communion (ChL no. 26). They also express the preferential option of the Church for the poor, because they are often created by people deprived of fair access to material goods and live on the margins of society. In the activities of basic ecclesial communities, the poor evan-gelize themselves first, feeding on the Word of God, to make it a source of inspiration for life and action. At that time, the poor are becoming subjects of evangelization, when they recognize the proclamation of the Good News of salvation as their task, not only with words but also through the testimony of life. The transmission of the Gospel occurs in interpersonal encounters in which the attitude of believers in Christ urges people to adopt Christian values and imbue in them the culture created by them.

The pontificate of Pope Francis is marked by the mystery of the Divine mercy and its implementation. The Pope draws this truth from the Bible, testimonies of the saints and the modern world which is eager for mercy. Being concerned about the spiritual condition of the believers, he calls the Church a “field hospital”, emphasizing her mission and influence. He wants to help modern man reach God and read his calling. The announcement of the Extraordinary Year of Mercy serves this purpose. Pope Francis encourages the believers to get to know the gift of mercy better, accept it in their lives and share it with brothers and sisters in need, especially the poor and the suffering. As part of the Year of Mercy, Francis proposes various pastoral initiatives, but above all, he reminds us to reconcile with God in the sacrament of penance and reconciliation and to receive the indulgence. The Pope asks everyone to be interested in this unique event because we are all responsible for one another. The teaching is supported by the evangelical image of the merciful God who brings power to the weakest and conveys the hope that nobody is alone.

Pope Francis often speaks about the new evangelization. He notices areas that need a special care of the Church. One of them is the problem of poverty. The Pope encou-rages all the faithful to engage in the transformation of this situation . It can be called a “throwaway culture” and a sign of real poverty of the whole society when people remain indifferent to the cause of the poor. It is one of the negative consequences of the culture of prosperity. The Pope also calls it a “globalisation of indifference” and calls on all people of the three states in the Church to care for those who are poor and abandoned and to act against poverty. In a particular way Francis addresses his appeal to the consecrated persons, encouraging them to contemplate the poor Jesus, to the consecration of their lives through a faithful fulfilment of their vow of poverty and to the apostolate among the poor and the marginalized . By means of such an attitude of men and women religious they would contribute to their own sanctification, to bearing witness to love to the poor before the world and at least partly they will help those in need among whom they live and serve.

Człowiek w każdym momencie swego życia jest równocześnie myślącą jednostką, która kieruje się wymogami kultury i cywilizacji, oraz żywym organizmem, podlegającym uwarunkowaniom biologicznym. Rozpatrując człowieka, trudno uniknąć jakiejś formy dualizmu. Samowiedza ludzi europejskiej cywilizacji naznaczona jest kartezjańskim dziedzictwem. Pokartezjański podmiot skupiony jest na ideach umysłu, na teoretycznych konstrukcjach i projektach. Traci świadomość swoich prawdziwych potrzeb, żyje niejako obok siebie, zgodnie ze swoim idealnym projektem, a nie z sobą jako osobą z krwi i kości. Popada w autoalienację, odcina się od życia, od biosfery. Wyalienowanemu z życia podmiotow i brak ontycznego zakorzenienia w bycie. Identyfikuje się z idealnym, mentalnym obrazem siebie i odrzuca swoje realne „ja”; myli swoje prawdziwe „ja” z kulturowo ukształtowanym obrazem. Rozwija narcystyczną osobowość, pozbawioną związku z życiem ciała, ze swoją wewnętrzną naturą. Obcość człowieka wobec biosfery zaczyna się od obcości wobec jego ciała i pozaracjonalnych sfer egzystencji. Ponowna integracja ze światem przyrodniczym, z samym sobą i otwarcie na pełnię doświadczenia życiowego są możliwe, gdy jednostki ludzkie ponownie doświadczą siebie jako istot żywych. Rozwiną wtedy postawę biofilną, co będzie znakiem tzw. ekologii wewnętrznej, czyli harmonii, integracji różnych sfer ludzkiej egzystencji.