During Good Money Week, held from October 6 to 12, sixteen religious and lay participants gathered at the FCJ Spirituality and Eco-Justice Centre in Euston, London, to attend the JPIC Links conference titled "Changing Futures: Transforming Global Finance for Development." The event took place shortly after the Jubilee of Consecrated Life, marked by Pope Leo XIV's release of his first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te ("I have loved you"), which underscores a renewed Church commitment to the poor and calls for the transformation of socio-economic structures that perpetuate inequality.

In his exhortation, Pope Leo XIV highlights the historical and ongoing challenges posed by poverty, describing unjust structures as a “social sin” and emphasising the Church’s duty to advocate for integral human development. His call resonates with Catholic social teaching and echoes the foundational concerns of Pope Francis, advocating for collaboration between the faithful and Church authorities as well as involving laity and experts to engage deeply with contemporary global issues. The exhortation insists that Christian communities must actively challenge economic systems failing to serve the common good, particularly those which exacerbate structural poverty and injustice.

The morning session of the conference reflected on financial ethics rooted in Catholic tradition, drawing on Pope Leo’s reference to the 1891 Rerum Novarum encyclical, which insists financial practices must reflect moral principles. Participants prayed for courage to steward resources ethically and talked about global systems perpetuating poverty, such as corruption and unjust debt. Francis Stewart of CAFOD expanded on the triad of justice—distributive, commutative, and social—that Catholic Social Teaching upholds as essential to a fair economic order. Stewart stressed that foreign debt often acts not as support but as a means of control, especially for countries with a colonial past like Ghana, which remains trapped by debts accrued under former colonial regimes and maintained by global financial systems dominated by those same powers.

Another key speaker, Sunit Bagree of Results UK, highlighted how illicit financial flows, including mis-invoicing, secrecy jurisdictions, tax evasion, and the use of tax havens, drain resources from countries desperately needing investment in health, education, and infrastructure. Notably, Bagree pointed out that the world's top corporate tax havens include British Overseas Territories such as the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and Bermuda, which facilitate enormous losses for developing countries. These financial flows represent hundreds of billions in lost tax revenue annually, funds that could address severe social and environmental issues globally.

Despite the grim realities of the current global financial framework, Bagree shared encouraging examples of progress in nutrition and food security, driven by advocacy. Initiatives such as therapeutic food programs in Pakistan and school feeding schemes in Nigeria—sourced from local farmers rather than import-reliant food aid—demonstrate the tangible benefits when political will aligns with civil society action.

In the afternoon, Maria Finnerty, lead economist at CAFOD, underscored the urgency of the global debt crisis, which she described as the worst in 30 years. Countries like Ghana and Sri Lanka struggle to deliver education, healthcare, and climate resilience as ever-increasing debts undermine their sovereignty and social spending. Finnerty revealed that 90% of private lenders are governed by UK law and that billions are lost yearly due to tax abuses linked to British territories. The inadequacy of the existing global debt system is epitomised by cases where lenders have successfully sued debtor nations, as South Sudan recently experienced with Afreximbank demanding $657 million, nearly half its government revenue, in repayments.

The conference called for systemic reforms, including the establishment of a UN-led global debt framework and the overhaul of institutions like the IMF. It urged the UK government to reform its laws, especially given its unique position as a hub for private lenders and the operation of tax haven networks from its overseas territories. Advocacy is particularly crucial now as major donors such as the UK and the US reduce overseas development aid, framing this as a "new era of doing development." Debt justice advocates argue that if indebted nations could retain more of their own resources, they would rely less on aid and be better positioned to meet their populations' needs sustainably.

The conference concluded with a Eucharist, reflecting on Pope Leo XIV’s exhortation that unjust structures must be confronted and transformed by the "force of good" and through changing mindsets. The participants expressed a shared resolve to continue campaigning for financial justice, highlighting the vital role of civic engagement in influencing political leaders and institutions toward ethical policies. They called on the Church and wider society to amplify their voices, asserting that the Christian commitment to justice demands active action against structures that perpetuate poverty and economic inequality.

This conference and Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic exhortation collectively signal a pivotal moment for religious communities and advocates worldwide to press for systemic change in global finance, debt justice, and the eradication of poverty, thereby affirming the dignity and rights of all people.

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Source: Noah Wire Services