CAFOD statement on the Papal Conclave

Christine Allen, Director and Chief Executive of CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development), reflects on the key challenges facing the new pontiff.

“Our new pope will take on the papacy as the world faces a challenging international combination of spiralling global debt, accelerating climate change, and escalating humanitarian need. As shown by Francis, in a world full of crisis, the Pope represents strong moral leadership and, most of all, hope - that a better world is possible.

“Pope Francis’ great gift was speaking truth to power - highlighting the plight of the vulnerable and pointing the way to peace. His successor will likewise possess a powerful voice with the capacity to make world leaders sit up and take notice.

“It is well known that previous popes have spoken out about the need for multilateral action on climate change, and this has become even more urgent as floods and droughts devastate the world’s most vulnerable communities from Kenya to Bangladesh. The moral and spiritual leadership of the pontiff has secured huge progress in this area, including the delivery of the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, and living up to these commitments remains a priority in challenging times.

“Moreover, action on debt relief has been a priority for the Vatican in recent years because of a broken global debt system that allows international ‘loan-shark' lenders to profit from poverty while dozens of countries spend more on debt payments than on health or education.

"As millions go hungry in Gaza and Sudan and entire communities are near starvation due to conflict, the new pope’s ability to spotlight the crises being faced around the world, including those that don’t dominate the headlines, can remind us all that while aid budgets may be shrinking the scale of humanitarian need continues to rise, and it is our moral imperative to respond.

“The new pontiff will be one of only a few people in the world who can cross political divides and use his moral influence to help all of us look beyond our narrow self-interests and work together to overcome our collective challenges.

“Our prayers are with the cardinals at the Vatican, as they seek to divine the will of God.”