The National Catholic Reporter cites Eric LeCompte on the Pope's message on ecological and economic themes in the recent Amazon Synod. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Eric LeCompte's Thoughts Featured in Crux on Amazon Synod
Crux features Eric LeCompte's thoughts on the recent Amazon Synod and the Pope's economic and ecological message. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Activist says idea of ‘ecological sin’ boils down to, ‘We consume too much'
NEW YORK - In recent years, Jubilee USA Network has won more than $130 billion in debt relief for some of the poorest countries around the globe inspired by Pope Saint John Paul II’s Jubilee Year call to stand in solidarity with the world’s poor.
Now, executive director Eric LeCompte is hoping Pope Francis’s Synod on the Amazon will help further galvanize Catholics in the U.S. to turn their attention to a region he believes has been in part degraded by American policies.
In an interview with Crux, LeCompte described why he believes the focus of the Amazon Synod shouldn’t be on married priests or women, but rather on the pope’s economic and ecological message.
Crux: Much of the focus on the synod has been on married priests and women deacons, but you’re concerned that the pope’s economic and ecological message is overshadowed. How so?
LeCompte: When we see CNN or read USA Today, we are led to believe that the synod was entirely about married priests and women deacons. Married priests and the diaconate are only a small focus in this document.
We should not forget that the synod primarily moves forward an Amazon rite, and like other rites that are in communion with Rome, we see married priests that help fulfill their people’s spiritual needs. There is also an unsaid reality that in the deep, hard to reach places of the Amazon, married priests may already exist.
But in a synod squarely focused on the Amazon, ministerial shifts for the Amazon are in part about servicing people so their economic needs are met and their human rights are protected. We read the final document and of the 33 pages, ministerial shifts are only a few lines.
What we see when we read the document, is a strong focus to protect indigenous communities, human rights defenders and our planet. Perhaps the strongest message in the final document, that the mainstream media kicked aside, is that many of the regional and global challenges we do have in common, is that we are all consuming too much.
The final document has some strong language about ecological sin? What does that mean to you?
We can boil down the synod’s message simply to: we are consuming too much.
Whether we live in the Amazon or the United States of America, we all are consuming too much. It’s a tough message and it may be the closest the Catholic Church has ever gotten to the concept of social sin, that as an entire society - our level of consumption is sinful. Our level of consumption is hurting our planet, depriving the poor and disconnecting us from one another. While this is a regional document, it gets pretty specific on the idea of ecological sin. The document not only encourages us to check our addiction on fossil fuels, but even specifically challenges us to consume less meat.
The final document also calls for new models of “fair, solidarity, and sustainable development.” In what ways do you believe the U.S. is responsible for the degradation in the Amazon?
In the Holy Father’s homily at the closing Mass of the synod, he lifted one of the concepts most important to him. We must stop predatory development models in the Amazon. These are models that exploit the people of the Amazon and take their resources while benefiting foreigners.
Many U.S. corporations are notorious for land grabs and taking resources in ways that do violence to the Amazon’s communities and ecosystems. Trade agreements with the United States protect U.S. corporations when they do harm in the Amazon. The World Bank does development by giving loans for the extraction of natural resources. Some communities in the Amazon participate in these abuses too, some because their lives depend on it and others for exploiting profit.
In what practical ways do you think the synod can help the U.S. Church?
Because we are talking about an Amazon rite, I doubt in the U.S. Church we’ll see married priests as a solution to our priest shortage anytime soon. One of the global aspects though, is that the Holy See is reopening the global conversation on a diaconate that includes women. That conversation could help fulfill some of the religious needs of our U.S. communities.
If we read the 33-page outcome document of the synod, the message ultimately is that we all deserve to live in a world where we have enough, and not too much. It’s this message that can help us in the United States be in closer communion with one another, in solidarity with people fighting for survival in the Amazon and closer to our loving God.
Read more here.
Eric LeCompte Cited by AFP on Corporate Transparency
Agence France-Presse cites Eric LeCompte on the Corporate Transparency Act 2019 after it passed through the House this week. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
US House approves bill exposing shell company owners
According to Eric LeCompte, a United Nations finance expert and the head of the religious development group Jubilee USA, the bill also "stops human traffickers, corrupt government officials and revenue loss in the developing world."
Read more here.
Eric LeCompte Quoted in Associated Press on Global Economic Slowdown
The Associated Press quotes Eric LeCompte on the global economic slowdown reported at the International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Washington, DC. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Finance Officials Pledge to Combat Global Economic Slowdown
Jubilee USA, a religious organization fighting global poverty, said in a statement that while the IMF outlined a number of serious threats, the recommendations for dealing with them fell short.
"Risky investing, trade tensions and developing countries borrowing too much are serious concerns for financial stability," said Eric LeCompte, the group's executive director.
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Business Report Cites Eric LeCompte on World Economic Outlook
Business Report cites Eric LeCompte on the IMF World Economic Outlook report. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
IMF lowers South Africa’s growth forecast for 2019 to a paltry 0.7%
Eric LeCompte, the director of Jubilee USA, a non-profit financial reform organisation, said this was the bleakest economic outlook report that he had seen from the fund.
“World leaders should be very concerned. Inequality is on the rise, even in some of the richest societies,” LeCompte said.
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Time Focuses on Eric LeCompte's Thoughts on IMF Director Georgieva
Time cites Eric LeCompte on the new IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva's appointment. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network, said he expected Georgieva will focus on general inequality, environmental issues and the need for more resources to be directed to developing nations, issues she championed at the World Bank.
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Associated Press Cites Eric LeCompte on New IMF Director
The Associated Press quotes Eric LeCompte on Kristalina Georgieva's appointment as IMF Managing Director. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Economist who grew up in communist Bulgaria is new IMF chief
Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network, said he expected Georgieva will focus on general inequality, environmental issues and the need for more resources to be directed to developing nations, issues she championed at the World Bank.
Read more here.
Eric LeCompte's Thoughts on New IMF Director in AFP
The Agence France-Presse cites Eric LeCompte thoughts on Kristalina Georgieva's new role as IMF head. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Kristalina Georgieva named IMF managing director
Jubilee USA, a faith-based debt-relief organization, hailed Georgieva's selection.
"Under Georgieva's leadership, we will see emphasis on gender inequality, environmental issues and the need for more resources to be directed to the developing world," Eric LeCompte, Jubilee USA's executive director, said in a statement.
Read more here.
Jubilee USA Featured in the Guardian
The Guardian mentions the Jubilee movement in an article on Kristalina Georgieva's selection as new IMF Managing Director. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Georgieva’s brave new agenda at IMF threatened by economic storm clouds
If the IMF is to tackle inequality, Georgieva will need to turn the steering wheel almost as hard as she must on the environment. For some time the IMF has come under fire for only helping countries hit by natural disasters with loans they can ill-afford to pay back. The charity Jubilee Debt 2000, which campaigns against austerity and in favour of debt forgiveness for poor countries, says Georgieva should review IMF support for countries devastated by typhoons, tsunami’s and earthquakes.
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Brietbart Quotes Eric LeCompte on New IMF Chief
Brietbart cites Eric LeCompte on Kristalina Georgieva's appointment as IMF chief. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Kristalina Georgieva named IMF managing director
Jubilee USA, a faith-based debt-relief organization, hailed Georgieva’s selection.
“Under Georgieva’s leadership, we will see emphasis on gender inequality, environmental issues and the need for more resources to be directed to the developing world,” Eric LeCompte, Jubilee USA’s executive director, said in a statement.
Read more here.