Jubilee USA Network

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Pages tagged "tax"


National Catholic Reporter Cites Eric LeCompte on Pope's Amazon Synod

Posted on Press by Kate Zeller · November 04, 2019 12:22 PM

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.

The Amazon synod is about the concept of social sin, not married priests

If you relied on the mainstream media, you would think that the three-week synod on the Amazon last month was mainly focused on the issues of whether or not to ordain married men and to restore the female diaconate. It wasn't.

"If we read the outcome document of the synod, we see the ministerial shifts for the Amazon are in part about servicing people so their human and economic rights are protected," says Eric LeCompte, executive director of JubileeUSA. "We read that as Catholics we must protect indigenous communities and our planet. Ultimately, the synod's message is that we all deserve to live in a world where we have enough, and not too much."

LeCompte argues that the synod document puts forward the most robust articulation of the concept of "social sin" since that concept came into official disrepute in the 1980s.

"Much of the Amazon synod's final document can be boiled down to the reality that we are consuming too much," he told NCR in an email. "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 reality that there is social sin, that as an entire society — our level of consumption is sinful." This bringing back of the idea of social sin is a significant development in moral theology.

 

Read more here. 


Posted on Pray by Kate Zeller · September 13, 2019 1:34 PM

Jubilee Weekend 2019

We need your faith community to pray with us and help us move Congress to shine a light on the abuses of anonymous shell companies. Some of the poorest places in the world continue to wrestle with high poverty rates, unsustainable debt levels and an inability to deal with extreme natural disasters driven by climate change. Mozambique, Puerto Rico, Somalia, the Bahamas and vulnerable communities around the world are suffering.

At Jubilee USA's core, we work on economic policies to ensure that resources get to the most vulnerable communities. It's why for years we've worked with our national faith partners on corporate transparency to make sure debt relief and aid are protected from corruption. We still have a lot of work to win strong transparency measures to stop shell companies from facilitating crimes like human trafficking, theft of development and debt relief aid, drug trafficking, the opioid crisis, terrorism and so much more. It's why we need your help pushing Congress to move this much-needed legislation.

Here are two ways to participate in Jubilee Weekend 2019:

1.) Sign-up your faith community to offer one prayer during your religious service the weekend of October 18th - 20th. Join Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other faith communities as we pray for transparency legislation to protect the vulnerable and those suffering from climate disasters. Another way to participate would be to set up a watch party for Eric LeCompte's address on these issues with your community. You can find links to those videos below. You can find sample prayers, petitions and service resources in our Jubilee Weekend 2019 packet here.

2.) Please have your faith community members send messages to Congress asking them to support the Corporate Transparency Act. You can

  • Send your Members of Congress emails through our website here 
  • Print our petition here and send it to us at Jubilee so we can deliver the signatures to Congress
  • Print and send our postcard to us to be delivered to Congress here
  • or contact kate@jubileeusa.org for help writing a letter of endorsement for the Corporate Transparency Act from your faith community. 

You can participate in one or all of these actions and you are welcome to take action multiple times. 

In late September, Eric LeCompte addressed the United Nations on these pressing issues. Eric lifts up debt relief to mitigate extreme weather events, responsible lending and borrowing, budget transparency, a global super bankruptcy process, anonymous shell corporations and tax havens, the Corporate Transparency Act, a global tax body, funding the Sustainable Development Goals and stopping the terrifying reality that 22,000 kids die every day because of poverty.

Read Eric’s entire remarks here, or watch his first opening UN General Assembly speech here or his concluding remarks to the morning UN General Assembly here. Watch the entire 3 hour UN General Assembly event here, to see world leaders, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Bill Gates, Eric and UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres discuss our Jubilee issues and efforts.

If you have any questions, contact Jubilee USA Network by email at kate@jubileeusa.org or by phone at (202) 783-3566 x105 or (503) 936-7553.

Resources

  • Jubilee Weekend Faith Community Sign-up
  • Jubilee Weekend 2019 Guide
  • Corporate Transparency Act Online Petition (great for e-newsletters)
  • Anonymous Shell Companies Explainer
  • Corporate Transparency Act Postcards
  • Corporate Transparency Act Petition - Printable Version
  • Christian Scriptures
  • Jewish Texts
  • Qu'ran Writings
  • Call to Jubilee Sheet Music (Piano, Choral)

 

You can see the list of congregations participating in Jubilee Weekend 2019 here. 


Pope Tackles Corruption, Climate, Debt and Poverty in Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius

Posted on Press by Kate Zeller · September 09, 2019 3:56 PM

Port Louis, Mauritius - Reject your "idolatrous economic model," were the words Pope Francis addressed Mauritius' political leaders with on Monday. Dubbed the "Mauritius Leaks," the island is the center of a tax avoidance scandal where companies pay a lower tax rate in Mauritius to avoid billions of dollars in taxes in the African countries where they actually do business.

"Poor African countries are losing billions of revenue needed to build infrastructure and fight poverty because of the Mauritius tax haven," stated Jubilee USA Director and United Nations finance expert, Eric LeCompte. "Pope Francis calls corruption a plague and it was the common theme for each of the three African countries he visited."

Francis is at the end of a three nation Africa tour that began on September 4th in Mozambique and continued in Madagascar before visiting Mauritius.

In Mozambique during the Catholic leader's sermon at a religious service attended by more than 60,000, Francis exclaimed, "Mozambique is a land of abundant natural and cultural riches, yet paradoxically, great numbers of its people live below the poverty level. And at times it seems that those who approach with the alleged desire to help have other interests. Sadly, this happens with brothers and sisters of the same land, who let themselves be corrupted. It is very dangerous to think that this is the price to be paid for foreign aid."

Mozambique wrestles with a $2 billion debt scandal because loans from Credit Suisse and a Russian bank intended to support the Mozambique ports and fishing industry were used to secretly outfit military boats.

"In Mozambique, the Pope is deeply concerned with corrupt officials and some global banks that benefit from and created these secret loans," said LeCompte. "The Pope is concerned by the high poverty rates, corruption and the debt crisis in Mozambique. The Holy Father asserts that debt is a tool of the rich to control poor countries."

Mozambique is recovering from two cyclones this year and data from the World Bank ranks the southeast African country as the 7th poorest in the world.

At a Catholic Mass of more than a million participants over the weekend in Madagascar, Francis took aim at allegations that more than half of Madagascar's elected leaders are involved in corrupt activities. "When 'family' becomes the decisive criterion for what we consider right and good, we end up justifying and even 'consecrating' practices that lead to...privilege and exclusion: favouritism, patronage and, as a consequence, corruption," he said.

Francis was referring to the family clan system in Madagascar and the challenge that natural resources are lost in Madagascar because of consumption of wealthy countries.

"The Pope's message for Madagascar is protect your environment and your natural resources from all forms of theft and corruption," noted LeCompte. "Madagascar's deforestation and resource theft is fueled by corruption."

In the last 6 decades nearly 45% of forests in Madagascar were lost to illicit logging and subsistence farming. In addition to corruption, Pope Francis expressed concern for climate vulnerabilities that each of the three African countries share.

“The Pope's visit to Africa spreads the message of his 2015 writings, the encyclical Laudato Si. Pope Francis in several speeches in Africa highlighted a concept from his encyclical, ecological debt or climate debt,” shared LeCompte who advises Vatican leaders on economic issues. “The rich world owes a debt to the poor world for taking their natural resources and driving climate change and poverty. Wealthy countries must return resources to poor countries so they can deal with more powerful natural disasters and extreme weather events spurred by climate change. ”


Eric LeCompte's analysis on "Mauritius Leaks," shared in National Catholic Reporter

Posted on Press by Kate Zeller · September 09, 2019 11:13 AM

Jubilee USA Executive Director was cited by the National Catholic Reporter on Pope Francis's visit to Mauritius. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

Pope urges Mauritius, island tax haven, to reject 'idolatrous economic model'

Eric LeCompte, the leader of Jubilee USA, a network of religious and development groups that argue for international debt relief, cited figures showing that sixty percent of the people of Mauritius see corruption as on the rise in their country. He called the island nation "the premier tax haven in the region draining revenue from many poor countries in Africa."

Read more here. 


Debt, Corruption and Tax Policies Impact Poverty, Says Vatican at United Nations

Posted on Press by Lydia Andrews · March 09, 2018 1:17 PM

During United Nations Human Rights Council meetings last week, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, the Geneva based Vatican representative stated, “We can no longer frame the debt crisis as an exclusively economic problem. It affects future generations, as well as the social conditions that allow the enjoyment of human rights of vast numbers of people entitled to the solidarity of the whole human family.”

Jurkovič’s intervention during the UN Meetings called for, “stronger policies around public budget transparency, responsible lending and borrowing, securing greater development protections, stronger debt restructuring policies and fiscal strategies that curb tax evasion and corruption.”

“Archbishop Jurkovič’s speech is incredibly timely and expresses urgency to improve debt, tax and transparency policies to protect vulnerable people,” expressed Eric LeCompte who leads the interfaith religious development group, Jubilee USA. The organization counts the Catholic Church among its founders working with Jubilee USA for over 20 years on economic issues. “The speech is important because it calls for world leaders to promote development measures that tackle inequality and prevent financial crisis.”

The speech was made during The 37th Session of the Human Rights Council on Report of the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of human rights. The report that the Vatican and world governments discussed at the United Nations session was prepared by UN Independent Expert, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky.

“The Holy See recognizes that severe human rights impacts resulting from the recent financial crisis have been widely and well documented. Policy responses to the crisis have revealed a deep-seated structural neglect of human rights in economic policy formulation, insufficient protection of the most disadvantaged and a lack of attention to participation, consultation, transparency and accountability,” stated Jurkovič whose official title is the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.

During the address, Jurkovič reiterated concerns around “predatory firms that take advantage of economies in distress,” or groups popularly known as “vulture funds.” The statement endorsed a United Nations “bankruptcy” process for countries that is supported by Pope Francis. Setting targets to curb global corruption and tax evasion were also encouraged during the Vatican diplomat’s remarks.

“The developing world loses more than a trillion dollar a year because of tax evasion, corruption, bad debt policies and vulture funds,” said LeCompte who serves on UN expert finance groups. “From Puerto Rico to Mozambique, people are suffering because of a lack of transparency in the financial system. We have the ability to dramatically reduce poverty, if we can improve accountability in global economic policies.”

Read Archbishop Jurkovič’s United Nation Holy See Speech

Read the Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky UN Independent Debt and Human Rights Expert Report


Issues

Posted by Seth Douwsma · August 29, 2017 9:29 AM

Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations, 650 faith communities and 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee is building an economy that serves, protects and promotes participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee has won critical global financial reforms and more than $130 billion in debt relief for the world's poorest people. 

Our efforts build the political support needed to influence world-wide decision makers, the White House, Congress, the G20, International Financial Institutions and the United Nations to promote poverty reduction and move solutions to the international debt crisis. Ultimately, we work to create an international financial system that protects and ensures participation of the most vulnerable within the context of human rights. Our advocacy promotes responsible lending and borrowing, increasing debt relief for poor countries, curbing illicit financial flows and corporate tax avoidance, moving forward an international debt resolution process, pushing reforms in international financial institutions and protecting poor people from predatory financial behavior.

Our efforts focus on the following areas. Click below to learn more.

  • Debt and Lending
  • Tax, Corruption, Transparency
  • Banks and Financial Institutions
  • Trade
  • Bankruptcy and Financial Crisis

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Posted by Abby Wilhem · August 29, 2017 8:42 AM

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You can stay up to date by signing up for our newsletter, participate in the monthly actions, start a Jubilee Group or sign you congregation up to be a Jubilee Congregation. Find out more at the links below:

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Dec 09, 2019

Eric LeCompte Quoted by National Catholic Reporter on Bretton Woods Legacy

The National Catholic Reporter quoted Eric LeCompte on the legacy of the Bretton Woods agreement. Read an excerpt below, and...
Read More

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