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| == '''[[Papacy]]''' ==
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| The '''Papacy''', together with its administrative arm, the Roman Curia, today stands at the head of the [[Roman Catholic Church]], the largest Christian denomination in the world, and perhaps the largest denomination of any religion. At times in the past, especially during the Medieval period, it represented a force in society and history to the extent that it can be difficult to separate the history of the papacy from that of the Church or, indeed, Western Europe.
| | ==Footnotes== |
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| The Pope has been the head of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] for over 1600 years. The Eastern Orthodox churches reject his claims to supremacy. Even more vigorously the Protestant Reformation reject the Papacy and theology of the Roman Catholic Church. As secular leaders the Popes controlled Rome and the Papal States in central Italy until 1871, and especially in the 16th century were notable patrons of the arts, turning St. Peter's Church in Rome into an architectural wonder, especially notable for the artwork in its Sistine Chapel.<ref> Famous patrons of the arts include Sixtus IV (1471-1484), Julius II (1503-1513), and Clement VII (1523-1534)</ref>
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| Since 1929 the Pope controls only the small Vatican city-state (located inside Rome), but has diplomatic relations with most nations. The Pope's power comes from his remarkable prestige among Catholics, his ability to speak for the Church, and his power to appoint all the bishops and cardinals. In 1870 the First Vatican Council proclaimed that certain official announcements of the Pope are infallible (and have always been so.)<ref> See P.J. Toner, "Infallibility" in [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07790a.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1910)] explains the Church position.</ref>
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| In terms of personalities and morality, the 260-odd Popes were saints and sinners who ranged very widely indeed.<ref>They were all men. The story of Joan who disguised herself as a man and became Pope sometime between 850 and 1050 was exposed as a false myth in 1650, but still circulates. Kelly (1998) 331-32. </ref>In recent centuries most have been holy men and in recent decades they have been linguists able to speak to Catholics in many languages. In recent centuries most Popes have been scions of Italian nobility; notable exceptions are Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) the first Polish Pope, and Benedict XVI (2005-2013) the first German since 1523.
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| ''[[Papacy|.... (read more)]]''
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| ! style="text-align: center;" | [[Papacy#Notes|notes]]
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| {{reflist|2}} | | {{reflist|2}} |
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Latest revision as of 09:19, 11 September 2020
The Mathare Valley slum near Nairobi, Kenya, in 2009.
Poverty is deprivation based on lack of material resources. The concept is value-based and political. Hence its definition, causes and remedies (and the possibility of remedies) are highly contentious.[1] The word poverty may also be used figuratively to indicate a lack, instead of material goods or money, of any kind of quality, as in a poverty of imagination.
Definitions
Primary and secondary poverty
The use of the terms primary and secondary poverty dates back to Seebohm Rowntree, who conducted the second British survey to calculate the extent of poverty. This was carried out in York and was published in 1899. He defined primary poverty as having insufficient income to “obtain the minimum necessaries for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency”. In secondary poverty, the income “would be sufficient for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency were it not that some portion of it is absorbed by some other expenditure.” Even with these rigorous criteria he found that 9.9% of the population was in primary poverty and a further 17.9% in secondary.[2]
Absolute and comparative poverty
More recent definitions tend to use the terms absolute and comparative poverty. Absolute is in line with Rowntree's primary poverty, but comparative poverty is usually expressed in terms of ability to play a part in the society in which a person lives. Comparative poverty will thus vary from one country to another.[3] The difficulty of definition is illustrated by the fact that a recession can actually reduce "poverty".
Causes of poverty
The causes of poverty most often considered are:
- Character defects
- An established “culture of poverty”, with low expectations handed down from one generation to another
- Unemployment
- Irregular employment, and/or low pay
- Position in the life cycle (see below) and household size
- Disability
- Structural inequality, both within countries and between countries. (R H Tawney: “What thoughtful rich people call the problem of poverty, thoughtful poor people call with equal justice a problem of riches”)[4]
As noted above, most of these, or the extent to which they can be, or should be changed, are matters of heated controversy.
- ↑ Alcock, P. Understanding poverty. Macmillan. 1997. ch 1.
- ↑ Harris, B. The origins of the British welfare state. Palgrave Macmillan. 2004. Also, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- ↑ Alcock, Pt II
- ↑ Alcock, Preface to 1st edition and pt III.
