Becoming a Church of the Poor in the New Normal in Light of Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach

Abstract

The recent experience with COVID-19, a pandemic that has further exposed the vulnerabilities of the poor in Philippine society, provides a socio-political and economic context for a re- emphasis of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines’ (PCP II) Church of the Poor (COP). This paper argues that the crisis brought about by the pandemic affirms the importance of the COP but at the same time it provides a context to further deepen our understanding on what else can be done by a COP. To carry out the objective, Amartya Sen’s definition of poverty that focuses on capabilities instead of income is used for synthetic analysis of poverty’s face as it was experienced during the pandemic. This is used to further analyze how the Philippine Church can rekindle its commitment to be a Church of the Poor in the new normal.