POPE ASKS FOR "DECISIVE" STEPS IN RESOLVING DEBT CRISIS

VATICAN CITY, SEP 24, 1999 (VIS) - Made public yesterday afternoon was the message that Pope John Paul gave to the leaders and major supporters of the Jubilee 2000 Debt Campaign, whom he had met earlier in the day at Castelgandolfo. The group is in Rome for a series of meetings on the heavy debt burdens of the poorest countries, which has been a recurring theme in papal messages and speeches in recent years.

"In the Bible," the message starts, "during the Jubilee, the burdens which oppressed and excluded the weakest members of society were to be removed, so that all could share the hope of a new beginning in harmony, according to God's design. Today's world has need of a Jubilee experience. ... Poverty and gross inequalities remain widespread, despite enormous scientific and technological progress."

"The Catholic Church," the Holy Father writes, "looks at the situation with great concern, not because she has any concrete technical model of development to offer, but because she has a moral vision of what the good of individuals and of the human family demands. She has consistently taught that there is a 'social mortgage' on all private property, a concept which today must also be applied to 'intellectual property' and to 'knowledge'. The law of profit alone cannot be applied to that which is essential for the fight against hunger, disease and poverty.

"Debt relief is, of course, only one aspect of the vaster task of fighting poverty," he continues. "Debt relief programs must be accompanied by the introduction of sound economic policies and good governance" and "the benefits which spring from debt relief must reach the poorest."

Emphasizing that debt relief is "urgent," he asks why it is taking so long to resolve this problem. "Why so many hesitations? Why the difficulty in providing the funds needed even for the already agreed initiatives?"

"I appeal to all those involved," John Paul II concludes, "especially the most powerful nations, not to let this opportunity of the Jubilee Year pass without taking a decisive step towards definitively resolving the debt crisis."

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