Economic Injustice: The Root Cause of Poverty and Violence
Kim’s Dream Orlan Ravanera
Economic injustice lies at the heart of poverty, social unrest, and violence across the world. This truth was courageously articulated by Saint Oscar Romero, the former Archbishop of El Salvador, who declared that “economic injustice is the root cause of poverty and violence.” His words were not theoretical reflections but conclusions drawn from lived reality, real blood, real suffering, and real oppression endured by the poor and marginalized. Romero’s declaration followed the brutal assassination of his close friend and fellow advocate for justice, Fr. Rutilio Grande, S.J., who was murdered for defending poor farmers against land grabbing and systemic repression carried out by powerful elites in alliance with state forces.
Saint Oscar Romero stands as a rare and extraordinary figure in modern Christian history. His sainthood was forged not in silence or ritual piety but in fearless resistance against oligarchical domination. In El Salvador, a small group of wealthy families controlled the country’s land, economy, and political institutions, while the majority of the population, especially Indigenous communities and poor farmers, were pushed into destitution, hunger, and fear. Romero recognized that this concentration of wealth and power was not accidental; it was structural, deliberate, and violently maintained. To remain silent in the face of such injustice, he believed, was to betray the very essence of Christianity.
Romero’s ministry embodied the heart of liberation theology, a faith rooted in the lived experiences of the poor and oriented toward social and economic transformation. He consistently called for the restructuring of society so that justice, equity, and human dignity could replace exploitation and exclusion. His unwavering commitment to “the least of our brethren” ultimately cost him his life. On a Sunday morning, while celebrating the Holy Eucharist, Romero was assassinated for exposing the crimes of the powerful and defending the oppressed. His martyrdom revealed the terrifying truth that systems of economic injustice will go to extreme lengths, including murder, to protect their privileges.
What makes Romero’s legacy even more remarkable is the collective courage shown by many Christian leaders in El Salvador, priests, nuns, and laypeople who stood alongside Indigenous communities resisting land dispossession and repression. Numerous Indigenous leaders were tortured, disappeared, or killed for defending their ancestral lands. In one unforgettable moment, Archbishop Romero publicly knelt in tears, pleading for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples as human beings with inherent dignity, not disposable objects in the pursuit of profit. His tears were a powerful indictment of a world that had lost its moral compass.
This global crisis of conscience persists today. Modern society is overwhelmingly driven by short-term profit, consumerism, and unrestrained materialism. The profit motive has become the highest value, infiltrating governments, corporations, universities, and even religious institutions. Economic growth is pursued without regard for human suffering or ecological destruction. In such a world, human beings are reduced to labor units, market consumers, or obstacles to development. Against this backdrop, the life of Saint Oscar Romero stands as a prophetic contradiction, a reminder that human beings are not objects but consciousness, deeply connected to the Earth, and to the formless Divine reality we call God.
Romero’s life challenges humanity to recover a spirituality that prioritizes values over profits, compassion over accumulation, and solidarity over domination. True spirituality does not withdraw from the world; it confronts injustice. It seeks not only personal salvation but collective liberation. To live differently today requires reconnecting with this deeper consciousness, one that recognizes the sacredness of life and the moral responsibility to protect it.
Tragically, what happened in El Salvador is not confined to history. The same pattern of economic injustice is unfolding in the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao. Indigenous Peoples continue to suffer land grabbing, militarization, displacement, and violence often in collusion with corporate interests, oligarchs, and state authorities. In Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon, around 1,000 families from the Manobo Pulangi-yon tribe have been displaced from their 1,111-hectare ancestral domain. For more than six years, they have lived in makeshift tents along the highway after their land was taken by Kiantig Development Corporation, owned and managed by the sitting mayor of the municipality. This is a blatant abuse of political power for private economic gain.
Similarly, in Sitio Kibaritan, Malinao, Kalilangan, Bukidnon, approximately 500 families were displaced when their 195-hectare ancestral land was declared a military reservation. The area was fenced off, crops were destroyed, and livelihoods were erased. The consequences were devastating. Families were pushed into hunger and extreme poverty. Even more horrifying, an unexploded ordnance (UXO) detonated in the area, killing three children who were playing nearby. To this day, no justice has been served. The declaration of “security” became a death sentence for innocent lives.
In Sumilao, Bukidnon, a corporation claimed a 5,000-hectare ancestral domain and converted it into a ranch. When Indigenous communities protested peacefully, they were met with lethal violence. Armed security forces known as Tagbagani opened fire on the protesters, killing three tribal members and wounding several others. These are not isolated incidents; they are part of a systematic pattern of dispossession and terror.
Since 2016, at least 101 Indigenous leaders and chieftains in the Philippines have been killed for defending their land and communities. Their deaths raise an urgent moral question: Does the enrichment of oligarchs and global corporations justify the poverty, displacement, and death of Indigenous Peoples? The answer is unequivocally no. What we are witnessing is a grave economic injustice that mirrors the same structures Romero condemned in El Salvador.
The difference, however, is painfully clear. El Salvador had prophetic figures like Fr. Rutilio Grande and Saint Oscar Romero, religious leaders who were willing to sacrifice their lives for justice. Their courage exposed the moral bankruptcy of oppressive systems and ignited global conscience. Today, the world desperately needs leaders of similar moral stature, individuals and institutions willing to confront injustice rather than accommodate it. At the core of Christianity lies a radical call to love, justice, and truth. Jesus Christ Himself was crucified not for preaching comfort, but for challenging power, hypocrisy, and exploitation. To follow Christ, therefore, is to stand with the oppressed, to defend human dignity, and to resist systems that treat life as expendable. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for justice, truth, and the liberation of others.
The task before us is clear. Christianity and humanity as a whole must return to its moral and spiritual foundations. We must move away from a civilization driven by greed and domination toward one guided by compassion, justice, and reverence for life. This requires a transformation of consciousness: a shift from seeing the world as a resource to be exploited to recognizing it as a sacred communion of life.
Only by maximizing values rather than profits, and by grounding our lives in deep spirituality and moral courage, can we hope to overcome economic injustice. In doing so, we honor the legacy of Saint Oscar Romero, the martyrs of El Salvador, and the countless Indigenous Peoples who continue to struggle for land, dignity, and life itself, all for the greater glory of God and the oneness of humanity.
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