Letter to G20 finance ministers calls on them to show courage, solidarity and compassion during Jubilee Year of Hope. Photo: LWF/Albin Hillert
Letter to G20 finance ministers calls on them to show courage, solidarity and compassion during Jubilee Year of Hope
(LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt and leaders of churches in countries belonging to the G20 group of wealthiest nations are calling on their governments to address “one of the most urgent issues which face us, that of the acute global debt crisis.”
In a letter sent to finance ministers of the G20 countries, Lutherans join with other Christian leaders in appealing for “a more fair and functional global debt system. They say there is an urgent need for action because some 3.3 billion people – nearly half the global population - “now live in countries that spend more on debt payments than on health, education or live-saving climate measures.”
The letter urges governments to act with “courage, solidarity and compassion,” to support “the poorest and most vulnerable” people across the globe. It comes as finance ministers and central bank governors begin a two-day meeting in South Africa which holds the rotating presidency of the G20 this year. The 26 and 27 February meeting is seen as critical in setting the agenda for future discussions.
Act now to “not only address the immediate debt crisis but also lay the foundation for a more just and resilient global financial system.”
Letter from faith leaders to G20 Finance Ministers
The faith leaders call on their governments to be ambitious in responding to the appeal of Pope Francis who has named 2025 as a Jubilee Year of Hope with a focus on forgiveness, reconciliation and renewal. In an invitation to Christians to mark the Jubilee Year, the pope noted that “the goods of the earth are not destined for a privileged few but for everyone” and insisted that “hope should be granted to the billions of the poor who often lack the essentials of life.”
The letter to the G20 financial leaders recalls the ancient Biblical tradition of debt forgiveness, land restoration and the freeing of slaves during a Jubilee Year. It encourages governments to take urgent steps to introduce a fairer debt cancellation framework, to ensure that private lenders participate in debt cancellation, to enable debtor countries to be properly represented and to support the creation of a UN Debt Convention to guarantee accountability.
LWF Vice President for Western Europe, Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt, Canadian Bishop Susan Johnson, Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Rev. Leonard Schindler, President of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate, are among the 125 Christian leaders who have signed the appeal. In this “year of both material and spiritual liberation,” the faith leaders call on all decision makers to be ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, taking steps that will not only address the current debt crisis, “but also lay the foundations for a more just and resilient global financial system.”
