Do we have a duty to help the poor? How do we quantify that?

[Adam_Michael]

Rbjmartin made a great point, about how many of the social safety nets currently being handled by the government were once upon a time handled by the Church.

Off topic a bit, but...  I firmly believe that the goal of the Obama administration is to completely push the Church out of this arena. That is the motive behind the HHS Mandate. They hope the Church will close their charities to avoid paying for birth control, effectively leaving all charities in the control of the government.