CAFOD director introduces the Jubilee Year of Hope

Nana Churcher, Catholic talkshow presenter and CAFOD's Simon Giarchi to host the 18 Jan event

Christine Allen, director of CAFOD writes: This year, Christmas Eve marks the beginning of the Church's Jubilee year. The theme is Pilgrims of Hope. Hope is a core CAFOD value; based on scripture and God's promise, but also witnessing the hope of our partners, and the communities they serve, amid conflict, oppression, injustice and environmental degradation.

In the Old Testament, a 'Jubilee' meant a radical reset every 50th year. Land and property which had been sold was returned to the original owner or their descendants, debts were cancelled, and enslaved people and prisoners were freed.

Today, jubilees happen every 25 years. For the millennium Jubilee in 2000, thousands of people campaigned for debt relief, securing $130 billion+ of debt cancellation for developing countries between 2000 and 2015 - money to spend on health and education instead of paying crippling interest bills.

Today, 3.3 billion people live in countries that spent more on debt repayments than health or education, leaving countries also less able to cope with the climate crisis. Most developing-country debt is owed to private banks rather than other governments or multinational institutions. If we can get these lenders to ease the burden on developing countries, it would give hope to millions of people.

The last hundred years has seen amazing strides tackling poverty but since Covid-19, we have seen more people in poverty around the world, more people displaced from their homes, and more people affected by war. Continued debt, the ongoing effects of the pandemic and the increased threats to the climate, add to a feeling of hopelessness.

Yet there is always reason to hope. A couple of years ago I visited Marsabit in Kenya, during the worst drought for many years.

CAFOD was funding Caritas Marsabit in emergency food distribution. Their resilience officer, Bante, showed me a huge water collection site. He had worked with the community to fix it up - clearing channels, concreting hte cracks, mending the iron bars to stop animals and children falling in. There was no sign of rain, though, and there was laughter because some people in the community felt it was all a waste of time.

For another few months, they appeared correct. Then the rains came, and the facility was filled up. While in most places the land was baked so dry that the water ran off, and created flooding, this community had the water they needed to recover.

Our supporters and volunteers within the Catholic community here give us huge hope too: raising money, raising awareness, taking campaign action, baking cakes, doing walks - and, of course, praying for our work.

This Jubilee year we can recommit to standing together with our brothers and sisters around the world. Perhaps we can even engender a pandemic of hope!

A better world needs all of us, and there are some very simple things we can do:

- Make a regular gift to CAFOD in solidarity with people who are working to overcome poverty and injustice.
- Push those in power to cancel unfair debt: there is huge momentum around this for 2025, and I'm hopeful of change.
- Pray for a world transformed and use our reflection guide to explore the meaning of the Jubilee Year.
- Volunteer with us during the Jubilee Year.

Pope Francis tells us that in 2025, we must look towards the next 25 years, "marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God. May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require … in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God's gift of creation." Spes non Confundit, 25

For we know what good news means today: enough food, the opportunity to thrive, the chance for peace. A fairer, better world.

I hope, I believe, that this is possible.

Join us for our online introduction to the Jubilee Year, A Year of Hope, on Saturday 18 January from 10.30am-midday for an exciting introduction to Jubilee with Fr Jan Nowotnik (Director of Mission for the Catholic Bishop's Conference), Christine Allen (CAFOD's Director) and Kayode Akintola (CAFOD's Head of Africa). Co-hosts Nana Churcher (Catholic talkshow host and author) , and CAFOD's Simon Giarchi will lead you with prayers, reflections and music from Ooberfuse (and so much more!), to help you celebrate Jubilee and explore how to be a tangible sign of hope throughout this holy year.To sign up and for more information and resources see: www.cafod.org.uk/jubilee