“....our responsibility to care for the poor among us.”
.
We are already doing it. Where do you think much of our tax dollars go?
Do some volunteer work in an American social ministry and observe many of our “poor” driving SUVs, being overweight, living in air-conditioned apartments, watching cable TV, talking over cell phones, having kids from several different fathers and schedule their lives so as to visit various different social ministries and having no intention to look for work.
Our “poor” are not all parasites, but many are.
I would say that the Pope isn’t (as I wasn’t) referring to the entitlement-class people who, largely through long-term government policies, have become lazy and complacent.
Interestingly, many of the poor in other parts of the world are also that way because of government interference. Look at sub-Saharan Africa, where despotic rulers steal food provided by relief agencies for little other purpose than to maintain control over their starving populace.
Shame on them (and us) all.