Turn Debt into Hope – The Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology

In 2025 we mobilized a worldwide ecumenical movement advocating for systemic change to address global economic inequality and the burden of unjust debt. Religious joined us in the Jubilee 2025  Turn Debt Into Hope campaign and were part of a global movement for change.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18

To bring this international campaign to life in Canada, ORCIE worked with KAIROS, who was leading the campaign in collaboration with Citizens for Public Justice and Development and Peace – Caritas Canada and ORCIE. The Canadian Council of Churches was active in developing the campaign and invited its member churches to support it. 

Thanks to work with ecumenical partners and debt networks worldwide we had a global petition campaign aiming for 10M signatures pushing for financial reform and the urgent cancellation of unfair global debt. Throughout 2025 we used the petition for advocacy initiatives at strategic moments like the upcoming G7 and G20 meetings, as well as COP30.

Another heartfelt appeal I would make is directed to the more affluent nations. I ask that they acknowledge the gravity of so many of their past decisions and determine to forgive the debts of countries that will never be able to repay them. Pope Francis, Spes Non Confundit

The Jubilee 2000 campaign is often remembered as one of the most successful ecumenical campaigns in Canada, achieving bilateral debt cancelation and contributing to a global campaign that has canceled $130 billion of debt in 36 countries. The Jubilee year of 2025 brought a renewed opportunity for reflection and action. Today, many countries are spending more money on debt repayments than on healthcare, education or climate action. It is a life and death situation.

“During the Jubilee 2000, Honduras was one of the countries that benefited [from the cancellation of external debt], but we see that the root causes were not deeply addressed, and now we are more indebted than ever. So when you hear that, in the Global South, in these countries, there is a lot of vulnerability, you have to look at the consequences, where all of this comes from, and what you, as legislators, are doing to supervise Canadian companies working overseas. It is your responsibility as well. We all live in the same common home and we need to take care of one another… as Pope Francis told us, ‘We are all one human family.’”

Sister Ligia Molina Sevilla

Social Justice Co-Coordinator for Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Region, Honduras, Guatemala & El Salvador (Congrégation de Notre-Dame)

Together, we can turn debt into hope!

More than 3.3 billion people live in countries that are spending more on debt payments than on health or education, standing in the way of sustainable development. For heavily indebted countries, public debt has grown so large that repayment is impossible, burdening future generations. This can change.

Public, private and multilateral creditors must cancel or reduce debts, and political leaders must support a multilateral framework for debt resolution. This would be a transformative shift for billions of people, moving us from a model focused on profit and enriching creditors to one that prioritizes a just society, centering people and the planet.