After his traditional New Year’s Day Angelus prayer, Pope Francis issued a powerful call to world political leaders, urging them to “set a good example by cancelling or reducing as much as possible the debts of the poorest countries.” No country or people should be “crushed by debts,” he said.
“The first to forgive debts is God, as we always ask Him when we pray the Lord’s Prayer…”
Pope Francis recalled. “And the Jubilee asks us to translate this forgiveness on a social level, so that no person, no family, no population is crushed by debts. I therefore encourage the rulers of countries with a Christian tradition to set a good example by cancelling or reducing as much as possible the debts of the poorest countries.”
