Wealthy fail on G7 pledges, says bishop

A senior Vatican official has criticised the world's wealthy countries for failing to live up to promises made at three G7 summits to relieve international debt.

Bishop Diarmuid Martin, secretary of the Political Council for Justice and Peace, said: "There is a very good international package there, but the funds needed to make it work have not been handed over by the wealthier countries." Speaking at the Vatican yesterday, he said: "We cannot have a just international system if the wealthier countries do not fulfil their promises."

He pointed out that debt relief in itself was not enough to help the countries concerned, but it would "open doors". He also said the poorer countries needed access to wealthy markets and it was ironic that wealthier countries which promoted the free market did not allow in goods from these countries. He said it was up to public opinion to make sure wealthier countries fulfilled their promises Bishop Martin, the most senior Irishman in the Vatican, attended a press conference with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican Secretary of State, Archbishop Francis Xavier Van Thuan, president of the Council for Justice and Peace, and Mgr Celestino Migliore, under-secretary for relations with states. The press conference was videolinked to Washington and Johannesburg, but links with Manila and Mexico City failed.

Queried as to why the church had not apologised for its role in colonisation, he said there had been apologies in particular instances and referred to the Pope's visits in west Africa to sites where slaves were taken away. He also pointed out the church did not just go with the colonists but had brought education, healthcare and concern for the rights of the people colonised. Cardinal Sodano spoke of the Pope's mission to bring about a more peaceful world and his "attempts to free man from the scourge of war". He outlined the devastation of the last century when millions died in two world wars and spoke of religious persecution and the scourge of genocide.