Church in UK: Archbishop leads call to tackle poverty on the doorstep
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appealed to us to be a Church for the poor and the
Catholic Church in England and Wales is answering that call by organizing a seminal
conference to tackle rising levels of domestic poverty. Archbishop Peter Smith of
Southwark spoke to Susy Hodges about why this initiative is so important.
Listen
to the extended interview with Archbishop Smith:
In the aftermath
of the economic crisis, Archbishop Smith says there is clear evidence that the poverty
crisis is worsening and how more and more people in the United Kingdom “are finding
it difficult to feed their families.”
“It’s been quite obvious with government
austerity (measures), people losing their jobs and so on, that there’s a great increase
in poverty in this country.” He says the statistics bear out this trend: “3.6 million
children are living in poverty, approximately 5 million people are earning less than
the living wage and 350,000 people are coming regularly to food banks.”
Asked
about the aims of the conference and whether he hopes it might persuade the government
to rethink some of its social spending cuts and austerity measures, Archbishop Smith
says he is not that optimistic. “To be honest, I wouldn’t hold my breath.” However
he goes on to say that it’s “important to engage with the government and put the
Church’s view to them.” “It’s about raising awareness in the government of the realities
of life" for those living below the poverty line.