By Tessa Gervasini
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 11, 2025 / 15:52 pm
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Jubilee USA Network have joined forces to send a compelling letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to prioritize global debt relief initiatives that will benefit both developing countries and the United States.
In their letter, Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan, the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace, and Eric LeCompte, the executive director at Jubilee USA Network, emphasized the importance of continuing successful relief initiatives introduced by Trump during his first term to reduce global debt.
They highlighted the president’s previous efforts in expanding and implementing new global debt relief initiatives, as well as his leadership in creating crisis response policies that alleviated the suffering of people both in the U.S. and worldwide.
The leaders stressed the significance of debt relief and restructuring as effective economic and security policies that enhance the country’s global moral leadership. These policies, they argued, not only stabilize trading partners but also reduce domestic food and fuel prices, support American jobs and exports, and require minimal cost.
This call to action comes in the wake of the launch of Turn Debt into Hope, a campaign initiated at the start of 2025 by Jubilee USA and international aid organizations. The campaign aims to continue St. John Paul II’s 2000 Jubilee mission of debt relief for the world’s poorest countries.
Zaidan and LeCompte referenced Pope Francis, who recently urged the international community to work towards forgiving foreign debts between the global North and South, emphasizing the importance of solidarity and justice.
The letter also highlighted that developing nations spend over 40% of their revenue on debt payments, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive debt relief solutions.
