wfn.org | Debtor nations call for justice, not forgiveness

["Christopher Took" <storm@indigo.ie>]

ACNS LC045 - 24 July 1998

Debtor nations call for justice, not forgiveness 

by Margaret Rodgers
Section Communicator

International debt is an issue arousing passion and concern among
Lambeth bishops.

This afternoon will see the whole conference join with Section
One members in the International Debt Plenary, where the urgency
and critical nature of the issues for developing-world debtor
nations will be brought to Lambeth participants. 

The plenary will be chaired by Archbishop Orland Lindsay, of the
West Indies, who will introduce  Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane,
of Southern Africa; Bishop Peter Selby (Worcester, England); and
Archbishop Khotso Makhulu of Central Africa. 

Another speaker will be Jim Wolfensohn, President of the World
Bank, who is flying to the UK specially to address the
Conference. He will be welcomed  by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

A redemption song will be sung by a group of gospel singers, and
a Christian Aid video will be shown. An opportunity for
contributions from the floor also is planned for the plenary.  

"The Church has an obligation to read the signs of the times and
to interpret them in the light of the Gospel," Archbishop
Ndungane said. "We need to be aware of the links between our
responsibility as God's stewards, the obligation of the world of
finance and the possibilities of new beginnings at the dawn of
the new millennium."

He is supported by Bishop Selby, who is chairing the
international debt discussions in the section.

"We have a choice between the view of life as a network of credit
and debt, a network of chains modelled by what the world of money
tells, and a view of life in which mutuality flourishes and the
truth that we all live by gift, by grace alone," Bishop Selby
said. 

"To place ourselves in solidarity with the debtors of the world,
rather than with the so-called wisdom of its creditors, is a
major test of our loyalty to Jesus Christ and our willingness as
a communion of churches to live by what he teaches," he said. The
biggest burden confronting many nations is the massive debt they
owe to the world's richest nations and international financial
institutions. 

Dr. Carey told his own diocese early this year that the people of
the debtor nations are engulfed "in a form of slavery no less
real than the terrible Atlantic slave trade of the early 19th
century." 

Each day debtor nations pay loaner countries $717 million in debt
service. In 1997 they paid $270 billion in debt service, around
$60 per person. Conversely, in 1997 they received $25 billion in
aid and development loans. So, for each $1 given in aid to debtor
nations they paid back $11 to service their debt.

Voices from debtor nations among the Lambeth participants
illustrate powerfully the overwhelming impact of massive debt
repayments on the lives of their peoples. They point to meagre
spending on health and education in countries where a major
proportion of the national income is diverted to debt repayment. 

They also cite huge unemployment problems, poverty, homelessness,
inadequate housing, harmful effects on the lives of women and
children, and trafficking in drugs and arms. 

Common language speaks of remission or forgiveness of debt.  But
bishops from the debtor nations, deeply aware of the devastating
impact of debt on their people, call neither for debt
forgiveness, nor for debt remission. 

They seek the cancellation of debt as a matter of justice, human
dignity and equality for all who share life on this planet and
who are equal bearers of the image of God. 

In sum, they call for release for those who are captive to
economic forces beyond their control, and liberty from their
oppression by the chains of debt.      

For further information, contact:

Lambeth Conference Communications
Canterbury Business School
University of Kent at Canterbury
Telephone: 01227 827348/9
Fax: 01227 828085
Mobile: 0374 800212

http://www.lambethconference.org