Holy See: Debt relief for developing nations a ‘moral responsibility’
By Devin Watkins
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York, addressed two UN panels on the implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The Archbishop affirmed that the international community bears the “moral and political responsibility” to help countries achieve sustainable development.
He focused especially on , in a pair of speeches in New York on July 16.
“The persistent and widespread reality of poverty,” said Archbishop Caccia, “continues to afflict millions of people, denying them material wellbeing and undermining their God-given dignity, while stifling their integral human development.”
The Holy See, he added, believes firmly that the international community must remain focused on the goal of eradicating poverty, which he called both a “moral imperative” and an economic exercise.
Many developing countries struggle with the burden of repaying unbearable sovereign debts, he said, noting that 3.4 billion people live in nations that spend more on interest payments than on healthcare and education combined.
“Providing debt relief is not an act of generosity,” he said, “but a necessary step towards creating the fiscal space countries need in order to invest in integral development.”
Archbishop Caccia therefore called for “immediate debt relief, including cancellation, and debt restructuring,” as well as access to grants to countries struggling with unsustainable debt levels.
Focusing on small island developing states, he said their debt burdens remain one of the biggest obstacles to the world achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Around 40 percent of these countries are in debt distress, and bear a heavier burden from the ecological debt and environmental disasters that overwhelmingly affect developing nations.
“Debt relief alone is not a panacea,” said Archbishop Caccia. “However, it has the potential to transform the development prospects of [small island developing states] by providing them with the fiscal space to invest in essential pillars, such as infrastructure, climate adaptation, health systems and education.”
In conclusion, the Holy See’s representative at the UN called for renewed urgency in dealing with the debt crisis facing developing nations.
“As MAP Leo XIV powerfully stated,” he said, “the Jubilee, which is being celebrated this year by the Catholic Church, ‘asks of us the restitution and redistribution of unjustly accumulated wealth, as the way to personal and civil reconciliation’.”
Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here
