Excerpt from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Pastoral letter on Debt Forgiveness in the Jubilee Year 2025. 

Twenty-five years ago, hundreds of thousands of Canadians responded to the spirit of the Jubilee Year by signing a global petition calling for the cancellation of the debts of the poorest countries. With the support of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and many ecumenical partners, Jubilee 2000 is remembered as one of the most successful faith-based campaigns in Canadian history. Working with partners around the world, and encouraged by Pope St. John Paul II’s call for debt justice, these efforts helped cancel over $100 billion in debt for more than 30 countries, including a great deal of Canada’s bilateral debt.

Twenty-five years after the remarkable success of Jubilee 2000, Catholics in Canada once again have an opportunity to raise our voices for debt relief and justice. Releasing debts is in the spirit of the Biblical vision of the Jubilee. The term “Jubilee” comes from the Hebrew word jobel, meaning “ram’s horn,” an instrument that would be sounded at the beginning of a Jubilee Year. The concept first appears in Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15, where God commanded that every 50th year would be a Jubilee Year, a time when land would be permitted to rest, slaves would be freed and debts would be cancelled. The Gospel of Luke (4:16-21) records that when Jesus began His public ministry, He quoted a passage from the book of Isaiah, proclaiming “to let the oppressed go free” and “a year of the Lord’s favour,” or a Jubilee Year. 

In the Catholic Church, an Ordinary Jubilee occurs every 25 years and is meant to be a time of renewal. Debt cancellation was a major achievement, but the structures that create debt crises were not changed. Today, many countries again find themselves in a debt crisis, having to choose between paying back creditors or investing in their own people. According to the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development, 3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt payments than on either health care or education... 

In Spes non confundit, the bull announcing the 2025 Jubilee Year, Pope Francis called on affluent countries to release the debts of countries suffering under their weight: “More than a question of generosity, this is a matter of justice. If we really wish to prepare a path to peace in our world, let us commit ourselves to remedying the remote causes of injustice, settling unjust and unpayable debts and feeding the hungry.” 

Today, many countries again find themselves in a debt crisis, having to choose between paying back creditors or investing in their own people. Economic debt can create feelings of hopelessness. As interest grows year after year, whole generations feel their future does not belong to them but instead to creditors. In this Jubilee Year, we wish for all Catholics in Canada to find their voice for justice, becoming true pilgrims of hope, making possible what feels impossible.

We encourage everyone to take note of the campaign of Caritas Internationalis entitled “Turn Debt into Hope.” In Canada, this campaign has already found support among a range of Christian organizations, including Development and Peace – Caritas Canada, the Canadian Council of Churches and many others. In many cases, governments have already paid the principal of their loan, but interest continues to grow indefinitely. To keep up with loan payments, countries will even take out further loans to pay back previous loans. Rather than funding integral human development, debt can beget more debt, trapping countries in cycles of borrowing from which they cannot escape on their own.

Meanwhile, public and private creditors continue to grow their wealth as countries in the Global South struggle to pay them back… A report coauthored by Misereor, the development agency of the Catholic bishops of Germany, (said) since 2010 “the external debt of all low-and middle-income countries (excluding China) has risen by more than 80 per cent. By contrast, gross national income in the same group of countries grew by only around half in the same period.” Debt is rapidly outpacing the ability of countries to pay, but creditors are not releasing their debts or relaxing their payment conditions. When countries cannot fund their own development, the effects are disastrous. ...

Read the full letter.