Catholic leaders laud debt plan, hope for more
relief
By NCR Staff
Debt levels that many blame for worsening poverty and impending
economic and social development in poor nations would be cut by $70 billion,
under the terms of an agreement reached June 20 at the summit of G-7 nations in
Cologne, Germany.
The agreement, worked out by the finance ministers of the leading
industrial powers, must still be implemented by each of the member
countries.
Religious and human rights activists greeted the action with
cautious optimism, though the dollar amount fell far short of what the
activists had proposed.
Some of these groups, including the international Catholic relief
organization Caritas, have called for the total cancellation of the debt of the
worlds most heavily indebted nations.
Estimates of the total debt load carried by these nations range
from $200 billion to $300 billion.
In some nations, the debt load has been linked to extreme
hardships borne by the poorest citizens. In Honduras, for example, where well
over 30 percent of the national budget is devoted to servicing debt, patients
in the public health system are expected to bring their own supplies for
surgical procedures because public hospitals cannot afford them.
Prior to the G-7 meeting, a group of 16 bishops representing both
creditor and debtor nations met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in
Bonn to make the case for debt relief. Bishop Robert J. Banks of Green Bay,
Wis., treasurer of the U.S. bishops conference, represented the United
States.
We urged broad, quick, deep relief that aids the poor in
these countries, Banks said, reached in Germany after the session with
Schröder. Banks called the G-7 initiative clearly an
improvement over existing measures but said the religious and human
rights activists hope for something more generous in the months to
come.
Banks added that the implementation of the G-7 accord would depend
upon action from its member nations. In that regard, he said he supported the
Leach bill on debt relief currently making its way through the U.S. House of
Representatives. Its not perfect, but it certainly is in the spirit
of what needs to happen.
Rep. James Leach, R-Iowa, and chair of the House Committee on
Banking and Financial Services, has proposed that the United States pay a share
of the cost of $100 billion in debt relief.
Banks said the bishops did not push a specific plan with
Schröder but instead discussed the general principles for any effective
relief. The key is that debt relief has to be handled transparently,
working with an informed citizenry. It must help the poor.
Its a matter of simple justice for these highly
impacted poor countries, Banks said. Some are not able to provide
basic education or basic health care for their citizens. This cant go
on.
Bishop Franz Kamphaus of Limburg, Germany, said there was a need
for a radical paradigm change on the debt question.
If the global village is to be prevented from turning into a
global poorhouse, the consciousness of a common global prosperity is necessary,
which the free market is not capable of guaranteeing on its own.
At the end of their meeting, the bishops signed a statement called
the Cologne Declaration: Putting Life Before Debt.
Prior to the G-7 meeting, Jubilee 2000, one of the leading
nongovernmental organizations campaigning for debt relief, organized a protest
in Cologne. More than 20,000 people joined hands to form a human chain around
the city to dramatize the need to break the chains of debt. The protest was
joined by Irish rock star Bono, lead singer in the group U2.
National Catholic Reporter, July 2,
1999
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