“The world is rich but, notwithstanding this, the [number of] poor people around us is increasing,” Pope Francis said. “Hundreds of millions of people are living in extreme poverty, lacking the bare necessities of life including food, medical care, schools, drinking water.”

Elizabeth Strout examines the human condition in a quiet setting where introspection cannot be escaped.

"We want to help people feel the joy of Christmas," Sabine Bou Serhal, 22, a chief for the group, told Catholic News Service.

Catholic advocates for poor people decried a new federal rule that tightens work requirements which determine eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and is expected to force hundreds of thousands to lose food stamps.

The basis of the index's measurement is the United Nations' Human Development Report

“Wearing the label ‘Christian’ or ‘Catholic’ is not enough to belong to Jesus. We need to speak the same language as Jesus: that of love,” Pope Francis said as he celebrated the third World Day of the Poor.