Africa, the G-20, Brown and the Pope

In an earlier posting I noted the mutual interest of Pope Benedict XVI and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the proposal of an Italian banker/economist to address the current global financial crisis by creating a bank which would invest significant capital in the high potential but underfinanced economies of developing countries. That forms the backdrop for an exchange of letters between the two leaders earlier this week in anticipation of the highly charged G-20 Summit currently taking place in London. The complete text of the Prime Minister's and the Holy Father's letters can be found on the Zenit websit. Both made explicit reference to the situation in Africa.

Pope Benedict, who initiated the correspondence on March 29, wrote to Mr. Brown:

I am writing this message having just returned from Africa, where I had the opportunity to see at first hand the reality of severe poverty and marginalization, which the crisis risks aggravating dramatically. I was also able to witness the extraordinary human resources with which that Continent is blessed and which can be offered to the whole world. The London Summit... for practical and pressing reasons is limited to the convocation of those States who represent 90% of the world’s gross production and 80% of world trade. In this framework, sub-Saharan Africa is represented by just one State and some regional organizations. This situation must prompt a profound reflection among the Summit participants, since those whose voice has least force in the political scene are precisely the ones who suffer most from the harmful effects of a crisis for which they do not bear responsibility. Furthermore, in the long run, it is they who have the most potential to contribute to the progress of everyone...

The current crisis has raised the spectre of the cancellation or drastic reduction of external assistance programmes, especially for Africa and for less developed countries elsewhere. Development aid, including the commercial and financial conditions favourable to less developed countries and the cancellation of the external debt of the poorest and most indebted countries, has not been the cause of the crisis and, out of fundamental justice, must not be its victim.


The Prime Minister's response the next day included the following:

Your Holiness, [t]hank you for your letter of 30 March about the London G20 Summit. It was a pleasure to meet you recently. I was inspired by our discussion to redouble my efforts to ensure the G20 Summit does not forget the poor or climate change.

As you say, the world's poorest are most at risk from this crisis, even though they have not been responsible for creating it. Protecting the poorest is one of my top priorities and we stand ready to support the most vulnerable in society. It is vital that rich countries keep their promises on aid, even in these tough times...

As you say, the poorest, particularly Africa, need a greater voice in the G20. This is why we have extended the participation at the London Summit beyond the traditional members of the G20 to include African and Asian regional representation, in the form of the New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). We will of course also have the heads of the IMF and World Bank, who work to support the economies of the emerging and developing world... Additionally, in advance of the London Summit, I hosted detailed discussions in London with African leaders to hear views and have taken these into account.

To his credit, in a press conference today I heard President Obama enunciate basically what I understand to be Catholic Social Teaching regarding a free market economy: substantial freedom for persons to take initiative and interact in the market as the best means for the distribution of resources and creation of wealth, and yet sufficient regulation to ensure that the market does not veer out of control or become inhumanely oppressive. That makes it all the more tragic that he is blindly unable to do the same with regard to defending the dignity of unborn human beings.