Pope Francis is planning a "Jubilee of Mercy" to begin in December, which confirms what renowned attorney Daniel Sheehan (lawyer for the Jesuits) has been telling us in his classes given at UCSC. Sheehan says if the world's leaders don't respond to the Pope's Encyclical regarding Climate Change (coming out in 2 days) urging all countries to cut greenhouse emissions and take other measures in caring for the planet, it is very possible that the Jubilee Year (already called one of "Mercy" by the Pope) will state that third world countries are forgiven the financial debts that have prevented them from advancing in every way.
See below in 2nd article for explanation of THIRD WORLD DEBT CRISIS and different ways it can be solved (one of which is cancellation of all their debts). To say the least, this action by the Pope will make the world's leaders and the banking system sit up and take notice. (!!!) If the indebted third world countries all refuse to pay back the loans that keep them in everlasting poverty, what will the leaders/banks do then? When the Pope has told these mostly Catholic countries their debts are forgiven, who do you think they will listen to? The Pope or the banks/countries that have bled them dry? Stay tuned... I think Big world changes are coming!
Pope Francis is more than just the head of the Catholic Church; this man seems to have been sent from dimensions beyond to help put this planet and its people on the right track. Like Christ, who the people of his time didn't listen to, Francis is preaching compassion, true brotherhood and responsibility for one's actions. In today's world, the conservative right wing (that ironically calls itself "Christian,") is already sharpening its knives against him. Ruled as they are by corporate support and the FEAR tactics constantly promoted by the right wing leaders and media, even the Catholic Republican candidates are telling the Pope to keep his opinions on climate change to himself.
Fortunately for all of us, this Pope is not listening to them. He is set on a course of truth and compassion for the planet and its people, and he won't be swayed by those who are greed-and-power-driven. FRANCIS EXPECTS HIS PAPACY TO BE NO MORE THAN FIVE YEARS CNN News Pope Francis, who succeeded a resigning pontiff exactly two years ago, told a Mexican television network that he expects his pontificate will be brief.
"Four or five years," he told Televisa. "I do not know, even two or three. Two have already passed. It is a somewhat vague sensation. Maybe it's like the psychology of the gambler who convinces himself he will lose, so he won't be disappointed and if he wins, is happy. I do not know."
Francis, who was elected in March 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI stepped down, said his predecessor had reopened a door to more popes emeritus.
When asked whether he likes being Pope, he enthusiastically responded: "I do not mind."
Francis, 78, said he feels God only wanted him to lead the Roman Catholic Church for a short time "and nothing more." He said that he would not support putting an age limit on the papacy.
He also enjoys calling on the Pope Emeritus.
"It's like having a wise grandfather at home. One can seek advice," Francis said.
Francis made similar retirement comments in August when he praised Benedict for "his beautiful gesture" and said he might do the same thing one day.
He told Televisa he misses the ability to go out in public without attracting a huge crowd.
"I would like ... to go out one day, without being recognized, and go to a pizzeria for a pizza," he said.
While at a communal penance service at St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope announced a "Jubilee of Mercy" will start in December. The theme will end November 26, 2016, the Vatican said.
There have been 26 jubilees since the first in 1300. The most recent was in 2000.
| | THE THIRD WORLD: the poor, developing countries of the world.
Which are the developing countries?
DEBT: an amount of money you owe.
CRISIS: an emergency, a very serious situation.
The G8 COUNTRIES: USA, Canada, Japan, France, UK, Germany, Italy, Russia |
What is the Third World Debt Crisis? Many developing countries have very large debts, and the amount of money they owe is quickly increasing. Trying to pay off the debt (debt service) has become a serious problem for these countries, and it causes great hardship for their people. Take the region of Sub-Saharan Africa, for example. This region pays $10 billion every year in debt service. That is about 4 times as much money as the countries in the region spend on health care and education. | DEBT SERVICE: The amount of borrowed money and interest that you must regularly pay.  |
How did the Debt Crisis start? At the end of the '70's, many oil-exporting countries had large amounts of extra money. They put this money into Western banks. The banks then loaned a lot of money to Third World countries for big development projects. However, several factors (a rise in world interest rates, a global recession, and low commodity prices) caused the size of these debts to start growing very fast; several countries began to fall behind in their payments. The amount of money owed by developing countries has increased dramatically since the early 1980's. These countries now owe money to commercial banks and also to organisations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and to First World governments.
GLOBAL: Worldwide A RECESSION is a time when there is much less business than usual. A COMMODITY is a product of farming, forestry, or mining that is bought and sold. DRAMATICALLY: very greatly. | 
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Why does the debt keep growing? It is especially difficult for developing countries to repay loans: - Loans must almost always be paid in hard currency.
Most loans to the Third World have to be repaid in hard currencies. Hard currencies are stable currencies; that means their value does not change very much. The Japanese yen, the American dollar and the Swiss franc are examples of hard currencies. Developing countries have soft currencies - they go down in value. Therefore, when the value of a developing country's money goes down (as it often does), the cost of its debt rises. It takes more of the country's own currency to pay back the same amount of hard currency. | A HARD CURRENCY has a very stable value. It doesn't change very much as time passes. A SOFT CURRENCY goes down in value. |
- The value of a country's exports goes down.
The value of the commodities that a Third World country exports can go down by large amounts. This makes it much more difficult for the country to repay its loans. In Latin America, for example, debt is growing faster than earnings from exports. | A COMMODITY is a product that is sold. |
Refinancing loans can get countries into even more troubles Refinancing is when more money is borrowed to pay off earlier loans. In theory, refinancing is a measure to help developing countries with their debt problems and sometimes it does this. However, it does not make good sense to take on new debts in order to service existing debts. If this happens, the result is that countries get deeper and deeper into debt. (This is called a 'debt spiral.')
In addition, many of the loans to developing countries are made by governments or organisations like the IMF. These loans often carry strict conditions with them, like cuts in spending on health care, education and food subsidies. This makes life even worse for people in the indebted countries. | REFINANCING: changing the time when debts need to be paid or changing the amount of the interest rate on a debt. A DEBT SPIRAL is a process in which debts get worse and worse. The IMF: the International Monetary Fund, a special financial agency of the United Nations, established to stabilize the World Economy. FOOD SUBSIDIES are the money that governments pay to keep the price of food low. |
What can be done? Reschedule the debts:
This is when the terms of repaying the loan are changed and more time is allowed to repay the loan. | TERMS: The conditions of an agreement. |
Debt swaps:
Some organisations have thought of clever ways to help developing countries lessen their debts. UNICEF's Debt for Child Relief is an example of how an organization helped some developing countries with debt problems.
In this program, UNICEF and international banks made a deal. Some of the money that poor countries owed the banks was not paid to the banks but was paid to UNICEF. Instead of the money, the banks received tax deductions. UNICEF collected the debt repayments in local currency (not hard currency) and then spent this money for programmes to help children inside the country. | SWAP: to exchange one thing for another. TAX DEDUCTIONS: A lowering of taxes. The banks had to pay less taxes because they had given something valuable to a charity.
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Cancel the debts:
Quite simply, the debts would no longer exist. The developing countries would not have to repay the loans and they would not have to pay the interest.
After all, what do the developing countries really owe the developed world? They have repaid their loans many times over in interest payments. In addition, in many cases, developing countries have paid the First World more (in debt-servicing) than the Northern countries have given in aid, loans and investment. | To CANCEL a debt is to say that the debt does not need to be paid. |
From 1983-1989 a surplus of $165 billion went FROM countries receiving aid TO the countries who were 'giving' it. Again in 1994, the less developed countries paid out $112 billion more than they received. Of course, cancelling Third World debts now will not solve the problem in the future. To do that, we must change the present financial system, which is based on debt and interest payments; a system that keeps control in the hands of those who are rich and powerful. |
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