Pope Francis Rallies Global Finance Heads to Back Debt Relief

Pope Francis has charged world financial ministers and leading economists to support an international mechanism to alleviate foreign debt, lamenting that a “poorly managed globalisation” has deprived millions of people of a “dignified future.” 

Francis’ remarks were delivered during a recent meeting with participants in the “Addressing the Debt Crisis in the Global South” conference, which was jointly organised by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and Columbia University New York’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IDP). The conference was attended by some 50 finance ministers, economists, and international development agency heads. 

The pope further stated, “We find ourselves facing a debt crisis that mainly affects the countries of the south of the world, generating misery and anguish, and depriving millions of people of the possibility of a dignified future.”

“Consequently, no government can morally demand that its people suffer deprivations incompatible with human dignity.” He also called for a “new international financial architecture” that breaks the financial-debt cycle that has contributed to a current global debt now estimated at $313 trillion.