Forgiving what’s owed: What does the Bible say about the controversial issue of debt relief?
Debt is a Biblical issue, with verses across the Old and New Testaments calling for leniency and forgiveness. Despite this, it remains a thorny issue. JONATHAN FOYE canvases some Christian views on what can be a controversial subject…
UN agency calls for debt pause option as poverty rates rise
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters A United Nations agency urged global finance ministers to give poor countries debt repayment breaks, estimating the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent surge in inflation and borrowing costs had pushed an extra 165 million people into poverty. The UN Development Programme said the jump meant more than 20 per cent of the world’s population – around […]
Seeking to make a difference: For many US congregations, wiping out medical debt has become a popular calling
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports that while donations from religious groups constitute less than 20 per cent of RIP Medical Debt’s overall revenue, they are becoming an increasingly common way for congregations to do social justice…
Serious debt crisis unfolding across developing countries – UNDP
London Reuters The United Nations’ Development Programme joined on Tuesday the chorus of institutions and charities warning that a serious debt crisis is now taking hold in the poorest parts of the world. In a new report, the UNDP estimated that 54 countries, accounting for more than half of the world’s poorest people, now needed […]
Sight-Seeing: Proclaim debt amnesty throughout all the land? A Biblical solution to a present-day problem
In an article first published on The Conversation, EVA VON DASSOW, associate professor of Ancient History at the University of Minnesota, looks at how the idea of debt relief emerged in ancient cultures and how a Biblical model of amnesty could help those facing burdensome student debts in countries like the US today…
UN chief calls for debt relief, post-COVID investment on West Africa trip
Dakara, SenegalReuters UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged debt relief for African countries and more investment to help their economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and weather the impacts of the Ukraine war. The United Nations chief spoke in Senegal on the first leg of a trip that will also include Niger and Nigeria, […]
Unchecked debt “dagger through heart” for global recovery, says UN chief
New York City, USReuters UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that if left unchecked debt distress in the world’s most vulnerable countries would be “a dagger through the heart of global recovery” from the coronavirus pandemic. “The international community has taken a few positive steps, but it is time for a quantum leap in […]
DEBT RELIEF: HOW CHRISTIANS AGAINST POVERTY IS ENCOURAGING CHURCHES TO HELP ALLEVIATE FINANCIAL WOES – AND BUILD COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
DAVID ADAMS speaks to Rosie Kendall, chief executive of Christians Against Poverty in Australia, about how the organisation partners with churches to help people struggling under the weight of debt…
US: HOW CHURCHES ARE WIPING OUT MILLIONS IN MEDICAL DEBTS
In an article first published by Kaiser Health News, ROXIE HAMMILL looks at how US churches are helping people pay off medical debts…