JORAS - Nigerian Journal of Religion and Society

The pervasiveness of poverty in Nigeria is an undisputable reality. Poverty can be said to be a social, economic and environmental situation where people live below the minimum standards of living. It is a state whereby people cannot afford the necessities of life, that is, food, shelter and clothing. To address the poverty issue, different regimes of the government, through the history of the country, have developed various programmes and strategies towards poverty alleviation in the country. Laudable as they may appear, these programmes and policies have failed due mainly to corruption and poor management. It is against this backdrop that this paper discusses the role of the Catholic Church in Nigeria in alleviating poverty in the country according to the Catholic Social Teaching, which provides a framework of principles and values that help in addressing social issues. The present paper concludes that the Church in Nigeria, by her moral and spiritual mandate, has a mission not only to the spiritual but also in the temporal welfare of the people, most notably the poor and the vulnerable in the society. To bring about economic and sustainable development in the country, the paper recommends among others, human empowerment, a mutual partnership between the government and the Church, and education of the people on their rights and responsibilities.

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