Jon Stewart / Daily Show screen grabs - Income inequality
[ Pope Francis leads prayers for the poor in posh Roman shopping district ]
Pope Francis, in the heart of Rome’s fanciest shopping district, prayed on Sunday that the poor are never forgotten. His appearance at the foot of the Spanish Steps follows a papal tradition of public prayer before a statue representing Mary on Dec. 8, a church holiday honoring the mother of Jesus.
Pope Francis has been a vocal advocate for the poor and downtrodden, attacking the current economic state of the world which has the potential to foster inequality. He criticized "unfettered capitalism" in his apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium," and will be leading a worldwide wave of prayer for the hungry on Dec. 10th, Human Rights Day.
[ Trying to break the cycle here in New York City ]
HONY is a website of human studies photography by Brandon Stanton, that puts a real focus on the subject's personal story, and not all of them are warm and fuzzy.
I'm trying to get out of my brokeness."
"Why are you broke?"
"I was born broke. Nobody ever gave me anything. Nobody ever bought me anything. But I made it hard on myself too. I left school. I left home. I threw all my stuff in the street and left."
"Why'd you do that?"
"My feelings were hurt. Nobody ever cared about me. Nobody ever said: 'Charlie, what's wrong?' They said, 'Shut up, Charlie. We've got our own problems.'"
When this was published on Facebook, someone commented:
We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty."
Mother Teresa.