Biblical foundation and magisterial development of the dogmatic datum of the poor as a theological place

Abstract

There are serious reasons to argue that with Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis, the magisterium of the Catholic Church has finally come to fully acknowledge the function of the locus theologicus played by the poor. This study, which constitutes the first of two articles devoted to the subject, investigates the foundation of this dogmatic datum in two sources of revelation: the Holy Scripture and the recent teachings of the magisterium. To this end, in the first place, it examines the role that the Old and New Testaments entrust to the poor within revelation; then it documents the rediscovery of the poor as theological place in the most important documents of the magisterium, during the time between Vatican Council II and Evangelii Gaudium.