Your organization, faith community or congregation can sign our Jubilee 2025 Petition here. 

Unsustainable and unjust public debts strip nations of the resources needed to invest in health, education, nature and climate action and the futures of their young people, locking entire generations into cycles of poverty and inequality. Currently, poor countries spend more than 40% of their budgets repaying debt.

The Jubilee tradition, rooted in several religions, including those of Judaism and Christianity, symbolizes renewal, liberation and restoration. It carries the promise of forgiving debts and freeing the oppressed, to provide families with the opportunity for a fresh start.

In his invitation letter to mark the 2025 Jubilee, Spes Non Confundit (“Hope does not disappoint”, Rom 5:5), Pope Francis reminds us that “hope should be granted to the billions of the poor who often lack the essentials of life” and that “the goods of the Earth are not destined for a privileged few but for everyone.”

This compels us to demand debt forgiveness for communities crushed by unpayable debts. As the Holy Father writes, “if we really wish to prepare a path to peace in our world, we must commit ourselves to remedying the remote causes of injustice, settling unjust and unpayable debts” (Spes Non Confundit, 16).

We appeal to global leaders meeting in the G20, G7, United Nations, the IMF and the World Bank to:

1

Stop the debt crisis now by cancelling and expanding relief of debts that are unpayable without endangering people and the Earth we all dwell upon, without burdensome conditions;

2

Prevent debt crises from happening again by addressing their root causes, promoting responsible lending and borrowing and budget transparency, and financial policies and agreements that protect the vulnerable and our planet

3

Establish a permanent, transparent, rules-based and comprehensive debt framework through global inclusive negotiations involving all stakeholders.