Coronavirus: Cardinal Tagle urges
"forgiveness of debt” of poor countries
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| Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle |
Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle urges that in the
current Covid-19 crisis that is wreaking havoc on economies worldwide, rich
countries write off the debt of poor countries.
By Robin Gomes
“Could the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis lead to a jubilee
of forgiveness of debt, so that those who are in the tombs of indebtedness
could find life – untie them, release them,” said Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle,
the Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, in
his homily on Sunday.
The Mass by the former Archbishop of Manila was streamed
live from Rome’s Pontificio Collegio Filippino (Pontifical Philippine College)
on TV Maria, a Filipino Catholic TV channel of the Archdiocese of
Manila.
Cardinal Tagle spoke about forgiving the debt of poor
countries in the context of the day’s Gospel where Jesus raises Lazarus from
death.
He compared the tomb and death of Lazarus to the debt of
poor countries, who are yearning for liberation.
Jubilee, in the Biblical context, is a time of grace that
celebrates liberation from conditions such as slavery, debt or poverty.
Cardinal Tagle noted that during the current coronavirus
pandemic, many are losing their jobs, especially the daily-wage earners. The
lack of resources and poverty could be a tomb of many people.
He urged those who can afford, to go to “those tombs and
release the poor people who owe them money from their loans and
debts.”
While we don’t have enough masks, he lamented “there are
more than enough bullets”. “We don’t have enough supplies of ventilators but we
have millions of pesos, dollars or euros spent on one plane that could attack
people!”
He appealed to rich countries during the Covid-19 crisis, to
forgive the debts of the poor countries so that they could use their dwindling
resources to support their communities rather pay the interest imposed on
them.
Many countries, he pointed out, spend much money on arms,
weapons and national security, but “Can we stop wars please?” he asked.
“Could we stop producing weapons… get out of the tomb and
spend the money for real security…have a permanent ceasefire?” he asked.
“In the name of the poor,” he said, “let us release money
for real security, education housing and food.”
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