Some of you are energetic young students planning your future. Can we together have a significant impact on this huge world problem, which also shows itself dramatically here in New York City. By doing so, you will work for the credibility of the gospel at St. John's University. As we establish this Chair of Social Justice this evening, I ask your help in carrying out this mandate that the pope has given to all of us. Let me state three things clearly from the Vincentian experience of the poor.
Most people are poor because they have been made poor.
I know, of course, that there are exceptions. Some don't work hard enough. Some lack initiative. But the masses of the poor, the millions of poor in Rwanda, China, Albania, Haiti, Somalia, as well as those in the United States, are poor because human folly, prejudice, lust for power, violence, or greed have made them poor. War, oppressive governments, unjust economic structures, low levels of education create huge numbers of poor in the world.