WCC NEWS: Churches unite for Jubilee 2025 Debt Reform: "Behind statistics are human faces"

The World Council of Churches (WCC) joined faith leaders and policy experts in demanding radical debt reform during a Civil Society Policy Forum panel at the 2025 World Bank and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings on 16 October. Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, WCC programme director for Life, Justice, and Peace, called for a UN Framework Convention on Debt alongside comprehensive climate finance reform. 17 October 2025 The panel, "A Jubilee 2025 Call for a Fair Debt Architecture: Bridging Ethics and Policy," brought together economists, faith leaders, and policymakers to explore fresh approaches to debt relief during Pope Francis's declared Jubilee year. Mtata, representing the WCC's 350 member churches and over half a billion Christians, highlighted Zimbabwe's debt-to-GDP ratio—the percentage of national debt compared to economic output—of roughly 98.5 percent. The country has been shut out of global financial markets since 2000, he noted. "Behind these statistics are human faces: families struggling to survive, young people without jobs, and communities devastated by droughts and floods," Mtata said. "Debt is not merely a financial liability—it is a human and moral crisis that perpetuates poverty and robs people of hope." Rev. Jackline Makena Mutuma, vice moderator of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order from the Methodist Church in Kenya, also addressed the panel. She described how "debt isn't just an economic issue; it's a moral outrage that denies dignity and life itself" and pushed for immediate cancellation of unjust debts for climate-vulnerable countries—framed as reparations for environmental damage caused by wealthy nations. The WCC called for these reforms to be implemented within the next two years, emphasizing that countries across Africa and the Global South face similar debt burdens. The WCC outlined specific reforms: cancelling illegitimate colonial-era debts, establishing catastrophe clauses in debt instruments, and delivering climate finance as grants rather than loans. Representatives from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Islamic Relief Worldwide, and various regional development organizations also participated. The World Council of Churches organized the forum with key partners, namely Jubilee USA Network, Caritas Internationalis, and the All Africa Conference of Churches, in continued work to reshape global financial governance. The organizations plan to present these proposals to International Monetary Fund leadership during the remainder of the Annual Meetings week. Zacchaeus Campaign for Tax Justice and Reparations Turn debt into hope See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland