Development: 2015 is decisive

“The planet has food for all, but the will to share with everyone seems to be lacking”. In clear words Pope Francis addressed the “world’s powerful” reminding them that “God will call them to judgement one day” unless they ensure “that everyone has food” and “and whether they acted in order that the environment not be destroyed”. 815 million people in the world suffering from hunger are in fact – as the Pope tirelessly repeats – the result of an economic system and of financial speculations, which have reduced food to commodity. The mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, with over 300 delegates representing 164 Caritas worldwide convened in Rome to attend the General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis, going on these past few days, was the appropriate occasion to address this issue. This year’s theme: “One human family, caring for Creation”. Esperiences from all over the world. Food is a key-issue of the Caritas debate, which next week will present at the Expo in Milan, where on May 19 is scheduled the “Charity Day”. On that occasion will be presented the results, in the various world countries, of the Caritas campaign “One Human Family, Food for All”, launched by Pope Francis in December 2013. There are just some of the concrete examples: in Brazil and Nicaragua Caritas workers have taught villagers to preserve Creole native seeds to make rural communities independent from the big seed companies. In Japan, as part of a campaign against waste, Caritas has sold containers to store the surplus of dinners at restaurants and with the proceeds of the transaction purchased the seeds for farmers in Eastern Africa. A powerful voice. Participants in the assembly got to the heart of the event on May 13, in the session opened by Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, who will step down as president of Caritas Internationalis after eight years. Maradiaga remembered the late archbishop of San Salvador monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero, who will be beatified in San Salvador in a few days’ time. “In the blood shed by Msgr. Romero in the name of the poor – he said – lies our strength to continue the struggle against poverty and injustice”. The Caritas network has numerous commitments for the year 2015. “This is the year that marks the deadline of the Millennium Development Goals – His Eminence said – while will be launched the objectives of sustainable development. The governments will negotiate a new climate agreement in Paris in December. And Pope Francis will deliver his encyclical on ecology”. Eliminating the root causes of poverty. Among the guests of honor of the first day figured Father Gustavo Gutierrez, 86, a Peruvian theologian who coined the “liberation theology” concept: “The Bible does never praises concrete poverty. That’s why the duty of Christians is to do everything possible to eliminate it”, he pointed out. “Poverty is a condition that has human causes, it stems from social and economic structures that marginalize people and from mental categories”. “The superiority of men towards women”, for example, “is a deeply rooted mental category”, said Gutierrez. “Poverty is not destiny but a condition and since we produced it we humans can also change it. We must identify the root causes and denounce them, otherwise the ‘machine’ will continue to produce poor people”. “A new direction”. 2015 will be a decisive year “for humanity to take a new direction, towards sustainable development and against climate change”, said economist Jeffrey Sachs, chairman of the Earth Institute of Columbia University, UN advisor on the themes of sustainable development. For Sachs “we are living a unique moment in history”, there is progress but there are also conflicts and “ecological chaos, causing increasing migration. “This year the temperature has increased by 4.6 degrees Celsius; 2015 is likely to be the warmest year in history. “The last chance to change direction”, according to Sachs, is the Cop 21 Paris summit on climate change to be held in late November-early December. For this, he said, “there are great expectations with regard to the Pope’s encyclical on the environment, because it will affect the conscience of the world”. Sachs’ proposals include the creation of “a new Global Fund to ensure that everyone has access to health, which would cost only 25 thousand million dollars a year” along with a “Global Fund for universal access to education”.