The Church, following the example and commission of her Lord Jesus Christ, who was anointed with the Spirit of the Lord ‘to bring good news to the poor… to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor’ (Lk 4:18-19), has always had preferential option for the poor, knowing that she ‘always [has] the poor with [her]’ (cf. Matt. 26:11).

It is against this backdrop that the Church advocates an authentic and integral human development; a development perspective which means the “development of every person and of the whole person”, and also is about the “transition from less human to more human living

conditions” (Populorum Progressio [PP] # 14, 20).

The DHD is responsible for promoting the holistic development of the human person involving creating conditions for, and meeting his expectations of economic, social, cultural, political, physical and psychological well-being in an atmosphere of freedom, peace, justice, equity and security (NCS, Restructuring Document (June 2011) page 16-22)