Pope Sends Message to Make Poverty History Rally

Vatican, Jul. 04 (CWNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) has pressed the leaders of the “G8” industrial nations to redouble their efforts against poverty, particularly in Africa.

The Pope sent a message to the “Make Poverty History” rally held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 2, in anticipation of the G8 meeting there July 6-8. The Pope’s message, read to the crowd by Cardinal Keith O’Brien, called upon the wealthy nations “to fulfill the pledges made to reduce world poverty, especially in Africa, by the year 2015.” The Holy Father joined in the hope that the problem of poverty might “be one day consigned to history.”

The leaders of the G8 countries (Canada, England, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Russia, and the US) will meet this coming week for discussions, with poverty in Africa and world climate change at the top of their agenda. In the past the UN has approved calls for wealth nations to furnish 0.7 percent of their countries’ gross national income to foreign-aid programs– a pledge that was reiterated at a 2002 meeting in Monterrey. That goal remains unfulfilled. More recently, however, G8 leaders announced plans to cancel $55 billion in debts owed by the world’s most impoverished countries.

At his Angelus audience on Sunday, July 3, the Holy Father again voiced his hopes that the G8 meeting would produce concrete help for Africa, “a continent that is often forgotten.” Speaking to several thousand people in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope mentioned the summit meeting at Gleneagles, Scotland, and argued that affluent countries should “play their part in ensuring a more just distribution of the world’s goods.”

The Pope said: “With all my heart, I wish full success to this meeting, in the hope that it may lead to sharing the costs of debt reduction in solidarity, implementing concrete measures for eradicating poverty and promoting authentic development in Africa.”

Pope Benedict has expressed special concerns about the future of Africa on several recent occasions. On May 13, for instance, during his first audience with the clergy of Rome, the Pontiff encouraged African priests and deacons not to allow their society to be damaged by the vices “exported” by Europe. On May 25, during a general audience, the Pope urged the international community not to forget the material needs of the African people. At his Sunday Angelus audience, Pope Benedict also drew attention to the new Compendium of the Catechism, referring to it as “a decisive impulse” in evangelization. Stressing the importance of communicating the faith in all its fullness and accurately, the Pope said that the Compendium, with its question-and-answer format, is “an ideal dialogue between master and disciple” and a great aid in teaching the faith.