Published as political parties draw up their policies for next year’s general elections, the letter called on politicians to do more to ease the debt of developing nations to enable them to fund basic social services such as education and health care.
Although commending the Dutch government administration for its “active policy with regard to easing the debt burden of the poorest countries,” the inter-church body argued that “more is possible.”
The council is the nation’s biggest ecumenical organization, with a membership of 17 churches, including Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.
The letter, signed earlier this month by the council’s general secretary, Ineke Bakker, addressed a range of other social concerns, including a new law on foreigners. The council called for access to basic social services for asylum-seekers.
The council also asked political parties to address issues such as homelessness, global economics and ecology, saying that the “unfettered self-enrichment” in some parts of society was undermining the country’s social cohesion.
“It cannot be that, in the opposition between economic and ecological interests, the latter continually loses out,” the letter stated. “Values such as justice, solidarity and protection of the weakest are, according to Christian tradition, of great importance for the quality of society.”
The council’s letter coincides with a national debate about the churches’ role in politics. In a newspaper interview in early March, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in The Netherlands, Cardinal Adrian Simonis of Utrecht, claimed that the Dutch government regarded the church as a “non-entity.”
The cardinal complained that “belief and the church no longer have any public significance for the government. The government merely sees citizens as individuals, no matter whether they believe or not.”
Copyright © 2001 ENI.
Related Elsewhere
The Raad van Kerken in Nederland have an official Web site, but it’s in Dutch.Earlier Christianity Today articles on debt relief include:
How to Spell Debt Relief | The Jubilee movement convinced the world to write down the debt of impoverished nations, but the strings attached provoke fresh debate on economic justice. (May 23, 2001)
Private Debt: The Final Frontier | Broadening relief to include middle-income countries with private bank debt would be tricky (May 23, 2001)
Ecumenical Leader Condemns Injustice of International Credit System | General secretary of the World Council of Churches complains that creditor nations get to dictate how to manage debt crisis. (Mar. 20, 2001)
Jubilee 2000 Will Disband as Planned, But Its Work Will Continue | “The world will never be the same again.” (Dec. 11, 2000)
Grassroots Activism Delivers Debt Relief | The Jubilee 2000 success is evidence that everyday people can make a difference. (Nov. 28, 2000)
Crushing Debt | Third World debt is as vicious as the slave trade. (June 8, 2000)
Debt Cancellation a Question of ‘Justice’, Kenya’s Anglican Archbishop Tells Japan | Tokyo skeptical toward Jubilee 2000 message (April 19, 2000)
Poor Nations Get Debt Relief | After Congress passes Jubilee 2000 legislation, campaign rolls onward. (Jan. 4, 2000)
Churches Seek Debt Cancellation | (Oct. 5, 1998)
Previous Christianity Today articles on the Netherlands include:
Churches Divided Over Amsterdam’s Same-Sex Weddings | Council of Churches in The Netherlands claims no official position on the marriages. (April 10, 2001)
After Much Debate, Dutch Churches Welcome Royal Engagement | Crown prince will wed daughter of leading official in Argentina’s military junta. (Apr. 10, 2001)
Foot-and-Mouth Reveals ‘Helplessness’ of Humans, Say Dutch Churches | Uniting Protestant Churches back vaccination, but at least one Dutch Reformed clergyman sees God’s judgment in outbreak. (Apr. 4, 2001)
Dutch Cardinal Says the Church Is Being Sidelined by the Government | Head of Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands says prime minister refuses to meet with him.(March 21, 2001)
Dutch Churches in Last-Ditch Effort to Stop Euthanasia Law | More than 50 religious and social organizations send petition to The Hague, hoping to defeat final vote. (Mar. 21, 2001)
