Pope to G20 leaders: Don’t abandon the poor

April 01, 2009

In a letter to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Pope Benedict urged the leaders of the world’s 20 wealthiest nations not to turn their backs on the world’s poorest nations.

The Pontiff noted that the G20 accounts for “90% of the world’s gross production and 80% of world trade.” Calling for solutions to the crisis in which the poorest nations have a voice, and exhorting wealthy nations not to adopt nationalistic or protectionist policies, the Pope wrote:

The current crisis has raised the spectre of the cancellation or drastic reduction of external assistance programmes, especially for Africa and for less developed countries elsewhere. Development aid, including the commercial and financial conditions favourable to less developed countries and the cancellation of the external debt of the poorest and most indebted countries, has not been the cause of the crisis and, out of fundamental justice, must not be its victim

If a key element of the crisis is a deficit of ethics in economic structures, the same crisis teaches us that ethics is not “external” to the economy but “internal” and that the economy cannot function if it does not bear within it an ethical component.

Accordingly, renewed faith in the human person, which must shape every step towards the solution of the crisis, will be best put into practice through a courageous and generous strengthening of international cooperation, capable of promoting a truly humane and integral development. Positive faith in the human person, and above all faith in the poorest men and women-- of Africa and other regions of the world affected by extreme poverty-- is what is needed if we are truly to come through the crisis once and for all, without turning our back on any region, and if we are definitively to prevent any recurrence of a situation similar to that in which we find ourselves today.

I would also like to add my voice to those of the adherents of various religions and cultures who share the conviction that the elimination of extreme poverty by 2015, to which Leaders at the UN Millennium Summit committed themselves, remains one of the most important tasks of our time.

In his response, Prime Minister Brown said, “As you say, the world's poorest are most at risk from this crisis, even though they have not been responsible for creating it. Protecting the poorest is one of my top priorities and we stand ready to support the most vulnerable in society. It is vital that rich countries keep their promises on aid, even in these tough times.”

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (Vatican Radio)
• Letter of Prime Minister Gordon Brown to Pope Benedict XVI (Vatican Radio)
• Avoid nationalistic selfishness and protectionism (VIS)
• Benedict XVI is urging world leaders attending the G20 summit in London to maintain development aid for poor countries (Vatican Radio)
• World Prepares for G20 Meeting (Vatican Radio)
• French Pres: Can't Believe G20 Summit Will Fail (Wall Street Journal)