Relay of Hope: More than 30 countries take part in worldwide call to combat global debt crisis

Campaigners gathered at iconic political landmarks including the UK Treasury, US Congress, and the United Nations headquarters in New York, this week, to light candles as part of a global ‘Relay of Hope’. The five-day action across 30 countries is part of a campaign to call for an to end to the debt crisis keeping billions in poverty.

In London, a multi faith group gathered outside the UK Treasury on Tuesday 27 May, joining faith-based and civil society groups, as well as church communities worldwide on the global call.

The ‘Relay of Hope’ initiative calls for action to cancel or restructure national debt payments for countries unable to afford them. Today, more than 3.3 billion people live in countries where the government spends more on debt payments than on health or education.

From Saturday 24 to Wednesday 28 May the relay linked communities from Brazil to Cambodia and Puerto Rico to South Africa with relay “stages” outside the World Bank Office in Australia and in St Peter’s Square in Rome. As part of the #TurnDebtIntoHope campaign, the light of the candles was passed across the world as a symbol of the hope debt relief would create for low-income countries, by freeing up resources for essential public services.

The UK event included representatives from different faith backgrounds, including Buddhist, Christian and Muslim.

Helen Moseley, CAFOD Campaigns and Outreach Manager: “Lack of regulation means predatory lenders are making billions in profits, at the expense of vulnerable countries, where millions lack access to basic essentials like education and healthcare. Around 90% of low-income countries’ private debt is held in the City of London under English law. The UK must act to compel these private lenders to lend more responsibly. To provide a long -term solution we need an independent mechanism that brings together all parties to ensure that there are no future debt crises.”

Sister Karen Marguerite d'Artois, a Dominican nun, said: “We are joining with communities around the world in this symbolic act, to stand in solidarity with those suffering in debt-distressed nations and demand a global financial system that protects lower income countries, enabling them to spend money on development, education and health as opposed to servicing unfair debt payments.”

Dr Shanon Shah, Director of Faith for the Climate, said: “Countries like Kenya are in an unsustainable position, having to borrow more to pay the interest on their existing debts. These payments are being made to big banks and lending institutions at the expense of hiring doctors and teachers, building schools, hospitals, and sewage systems, preparing for floods, or coping with droughts and other impacts of climate change. We are calling on world leaders to fix a broken financial system that is crippling dozens of countries.”

The UK event was organised by The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), and the global relay was organised by the Catholic aid confederation Caritas Internationalis as part of a campaign marking the Jubilee Year in the Catholic church – a moment traditionally associated with debt cancellation. The #TurnDebtintoHope campaign also calls for reforms to international finance rules to prevent future debt emergencies.

The Relay of Hope takes place ten years after Pope Francis called for reforms to the global financial system, in his landmark encyclical Laudato Si’, to better serve the environment and the basic needs of people living in poverty. Next month governments from around the world will convene in Seville, Spain for a 10-yearly UN summit on finance for development.

Pope Francis opened the Catholic Church’s Jubilee year with a call for debt cancellation for “those countries that are in no condition to repay the amount they owe”. Pope Leo XIV has signalled his intention to continue the late pontiff’s call, urging religious believers to say “no” to an economy “that impoverishes peoples and the Earth”.

You can sign the CAFOD petition here: Call for debt justice in the Jubilee Year