Columban Society JPIC Statement: Economic Justice

Columbans lobby on Debt at a G8 meeting

The Columban Missionary Society has produced a statement of policy on Economic Justice. It can be read alongside existing statements on the other Columban JPIC priorities of Climate Change, Water, Extractive Industries, Peace, and Migration.

It is based on nearly 100 years of Columban experience, listening to the cry of the poor and the cry of the Earth. The Columbans hope that this statement will contribute to advocacy and education efforts with many different audiences committed to Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation (JPIC).

Pope Francis regularly highlights the rootedness of many of the world's social and ecological crises in economics. He says in 'Laudato Si':

Economic powers continue to justify the current global system where priority tends to be given to speculation and the pursuit of financial gain, which fail to take the context into account, let alone the effects on human dignity and the natural environment. Here we see how environmental deterioration and human and ethical degradation are closely linked. Laudato Si', para 56

Concerns are expressed in the statement under the headings: Global Trade and Investment Policies, International Debt, Poverty and Migration, Food and Industrial Agriculture, Environmental and Cultural Destruction and Growing Militarism.

The Columban response is to call for fair trade, to do advocacy work tackling free trade agreements such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), to support Jubilee campaigns calling for debt cancellation, to commit to socially and environmentally responsible investing, and to support national and international networks and partnerships that address Justice and Peace issues.

The six Columban JPIC statements, including Economic Justice, can be read at:

www.columbans.co.uk/what-we-do/mission-in-britain/justice-peace-jpic/