250+ Religious Leaders Call on G-8 to Enact 100% Debt Cancellation

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- On the first day of the G-8 Summit at Sea Island, Ga., as US and UK leaders are considering a proposal on international debt, Jubilee USA Network released a letter signed by hundreds of religious leaders calling on the G-8 to fully cancel the debt of impoverished nations.

Prominent signers to the letter include (Rev. Jesse) Jackson; Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the leader of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.; Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches; Swami Shuddhananda Brahmachari, Founding President of Lokenath Divine Mission (Hindu); Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President, Union for Reform Judaism; Bishop Charles E. Blake, of the Church of God In Christ; the envagelist Tony Campolo; and Neville Gabriel of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference. A statement by the Most Rev. John H. Ricard, SSJ, of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops that quotes the Pope calling on the G-8 to “radically reduce, if not cancel outright” Third World Debt was also released at the event.

The letter addresses the moral imperative for the G-8 to enact full debt cancellation in order fight AIDS in Africa and to guarantee human rights for impoverished peoples.

“The soul of our nation is in a state of emergency,” said Marie Clarke, National Coordinator of the Jubilee USA Network. “All of the religious traditions represented on this letter have a version of the golden rule – love your neighbor as yourself. Each minute that passes another African child dies of AIDS. As people of faith, we are compelled by our most basic commitment to God, our neighbor and ourselves to call on the G-8, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to address this crisis by fully canceling the debt of impoverished nations.”

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