“We ask believing politicians to defend the poorest members of society, while we as religious pledge to promote responsible consumption”. The point was underlined during the conference of the Justice and Peace delegates of the Religious Congregations that are members of CONFER (Spanish Union of Men and Women Religious), held in Madrid in recent days. The 160 participants (including many laypeople) denounced “the grave situations of injustice and violence in the contemporary world which are placing burdens on the weak and the impoverished”. They also strongly criticised “the barbarities of the current neoliberal system, in which the life of peoples counts only in proportion to their ‘balance sheets'”. The religious thanked the witness of “men and women who remain in places of conflict with their silent humanitarian work”. “The new technologies too they observed provide us with opportunities to create a single human family united and in peace”. The Spanish religious publicly pledged to “denounce situations of injustice to the competent authorities”, “urge transparency in international organizations”, “give universal access to education” and strive to ensure that “international trade functions in a just way in relation to the poor countries”. The Justice and Peace delegates intend to promote the Ethical Bank and foster “common inter-religious work for justice and peace”.
