WASHINGTON (July 11, 2005)—Bishop John H. Ricard, Chairman of the
Committee on International Policy, United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB), issued a statement hailing the commitments made last week
at the G8 Summit in Scotland.
“At a time of sadness, fear and determination following the terror attacks
on the people of London, the G8 leaders have offered commitments of hope
and promise,” Bishop Ricard said. ‘They launched a new partnership in
pursuit of a more just, secure and peaceful world. They committed the most
powerful nations on earth to work together to protect the lives and
dignity of the world’s poorest people. In their promise of additional
assistance, debt relief and more equitable trade, they offer essential
alternatives to desperation and deprivation.”
“Clearly, one meeting will not overcome poverty and despair,” Bishop
Ricard stated. “However, through sustained implementation of promising
commitments, our world can become more just and more peaceful. The United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has worked for so many years
on these priorities, welcomes this essential leadership and will work with
the Bush Administration and Congress to ensure that these commitments are
kept and resources are found to realize their promise for hungry and
suffering people.”
The G8 Summit was held July 6-8 in Gleneagles, Scotland.
This is the text of Bishop Ricard’s statement:
Welcoming the G8 Commitments; Calling for Action
Bishop John H. Ricard, July 11, 2005
At a time of sadness, fear and determination following the terror attacks
on the people of London, the G8 leaders have offered commitments of hope
and promise. They launched a new partnership in pursuit of a more just,
secure and peaceful world. They committed the most powerful nations on
earth to work together to protect the lives and dignity of the world’s
poorest people. In their promises of additional assistance, debt relief
and more equitable trade, they offer essential alternatives to desperation
and deprivation.
We welcome the commitment to increase aid to developing nations,
particularly to double aid to Africa. Steps need to be taken now to reach
this goal by 2010. We are also encouraged by the focus on increasing
capacity, good governance and transparency as well as strengthening
peacekeeping and peace-building in Africa. Peace is an essential condition
of authentic development. We welcome the G8 commitment to cancel the
oppressive debt owed to multilateral institutions, but we renew our call
to extend debt relief to all poor countries in need of a fresh start. We
urge G8 leaders to sharpen their focus and to act on global trade
inequalities, particularly agricultural subsidies, so that poor countries
will have a chance to compete fairly.
The acknowledgement of the need to address climate change is an important
development. We encourage G8 leaders to continue their pursuit of measures
to prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change, including real
steps for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and examining the impact of
climate change on the poor.
We also welcome the support for a possible increase in economic aid to the
Palestinians. We hope that this critical step in the effort to achieve
greater peace and security in the Middle East will be realized quickly and
concretely.
Clearly, one meeting will not overcome poverty and despair. However,
through sustained implementation of promising commitments, our world can
become more just and more peaceful. The United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops, which has worked for so many years on these priorities,
welcomes this essential leadership and will work with the Bush
Administration and Congress to ensure that these commitments are kept and
resources are found to realize their promise for hungry and suffering
people.