Since 2004, Fu Jen University in Taipei, through its former President Mr. Bernard Li, has engaged in a process of translating and publishing the main oeuvre of Fr. Joseph Wresinski. After “Words for Tomorrow” published in 2008 by Fu Jen University, a translation of “The Poor are the Church” was recently released by Psy Garden Publishing Company(心靈工坊文化事業股份有限公司 ), Taipei.

“Social work as a social science emphasizes neutrality, beneficiaries are people who need help; problems need to be solved. Poor people are the subjects to be analyzed. We’ve never tried to understand them as people. But Father Joseph said he had: ’to fight for people who are excluded (…) I had to know them among all the others. I had to recognize that I belong to these people’ ’The Church is the poor people’s Church; the church is the poor.’ Then I understood the poor shouldn’t just be ’they’, as mentioned by social workers. Social workers have to be part of them, social workers have to see Christ in them. That’s how the wall between us and them will fall…” – Prof. Frank Wang, Graduate institute of Social Work of Chengchi University

On the 27th of April 2014, a round table discussion of the Chinese translation of the book was held in Taipei to celebrate its release. The many guests include social workers, university professors, doctors, NGO representatives, activists, clerics, and others. They shared with the more than 100 people in attendance how the book challenged their knowledge and understanding of people living in poverty, and how it pushed them forward to further developments in their commitments.

Li Xi Yi, a business woman, bought 1,000 books, hoping to help disseminate the book as widely as possible, including among the many people who can’t afford to buy a book. She said “When I look at the title of the book, how can I not love this book right away! When I was poor nobody wanted to approach me, not even ghosts.” (The title of the book in Chinese is “Embrace the Poor”)

Although the book seems addressed to Fr. Wresinski’s own church, the content is for anyone working in the fight against poverty. Jing Fang, an anti-poverty activist who contributed an appendix to the book, told the group, “In the article I wrote for The Poor are the Church I mentioned a friend : Ms. YongXin Jiang. She was so brave, worked so hard fighting to live her life. When she was young, her life was very often controlled by others, she used to live in the streets, and when she finally had her own family, she still encountered many sad experiences. She passed away last May, the 21st. When I think of her efforts and strength, I can’t help feeling sad and coming to tears. Sometimes I can’t understand why people only talk about the bad things people do, never the good. Whenever there was something bad happening with YongXin’s children, all what was said was that she was not a good mother, instead of trying to understand more of the facts…”

Prof. Tsai Yi-Jia, Director of the Department of Religious Studies at Fu Jen University said, “Father Joseph uses the term ‘the people’ to identify this population. The notion of ‘the people’ lets us better understand the group of people in poverty who were considered lost causes. Lost causes inspire pity, but the face of a people pushes us to change ourselves, to build a new society. Father Joseph gives us a challenge, establishing a contrast between those who squander and those who make the most of what they have received.”

Fr. Louis Gendron, President of the Faculty of Theology of Fu Jen University, said, “The most important revelation that this book brought out for me is directly connected to my current apostolic mission. The students of our theology department, during the three years of their studies, must be put in contact with people in poverty and to follow with a theological reflection. I think that is the message of our Lord, transmitted by Father Joseph and ATD Fourth World.”

Feedback to “the Poor are the Church” -2- from ATD Chinese on Vimeo.

Feedback to “the Poor are the Church” -1- from ATD Chinese on Vimeo.

Much thanks to everyone who came out and who has helped make this publication a reality!