Approaching the Jubilee Year in 2025, Caritas Internationalis launches the Jubilee 2025 ‘Turn Debt into Hope’ campaign. Inspired by Pope Francis’ message of solidarity, this global call advocates for debt justice and transformative financial reforms to bring renewed hope to communities burdened by unsustainable debt.

A crisis we cannot ignore
The world is facing an urgent yet silent debt crisis. Over 100 countries are struggling with unjust and unsustainable public debt, 65 per cent of which is held by private lenders, slowing down, if not completely hampering, development and climate action. For low-income nations, 60per cent are nearing debt distress, limiting their ability to invest in people’s futures. As debt repayments outweigh spending on healthcare and education, 3.3 billion people are being denied vital services, driving poverty and inequality even further.

While 80 per cent of new global debt in 2023 came from wealthy countries, developing nations face the highest costs, with interest rates up to 12 times higher. Africa, holding just 2 per cent of global public debt, bears some of the heaviest repayment burdens. Rising inflation, unfair lending and economic shocks like COVID-19 have stretched resources further, leaving poorer nations unable to invest in their people and future.

This imbalance doesn’t just affect economies; it impacts people and the most vulnerable in society. Families are left without access to healthcare, children are forced to abandon their education, and communities are ill-prepared for climate disasters.

Debt and climate justice
The debt crisis is not just economic, it’s also an environmental barrier. Climate action remains out of reach for many developing nations, where debt repayments consume resources that could be used to deal with the growing climate emergency.

In the Global South, governments spend 12.5 times more on debt payments than on climate action, increasing their risk of disasters and stalling growth. Over the past 12 years, wealthy nations have spent six times more on fossil fuel subsidies than on international climate finance.

In the words of Cardinal Tarcisius Kikuchi, President of Caritas Internationalis:
“Debt is not just an economic burden – it is a moral crisis. The Jubilee tradition calls us to act with compassion, restoring hope to those oppressed by debt. As we enter the Jubilee Year, we must transform debt into opportunities for justice and renewal.”

What needs to change?
Through the #TurnDebtIntoHope campaign, Caritas is calling for:

1. The immediate cancellation and restructuring of unjust and unsustainable debts – without imposing harmful economic conditions that fall on the poorest.
2. Long-term financial reform that prioritizes people and the planet, creating systems that are fair, sustainable and free from predatory lending practices.
3. The creation of a global debt framework based on solidarity and harmony between peoples. (World Day of Peace 2025 11)

Take action today
The time to act is now. The debt crisis is depriving nations in need of the opportunity to invest in their people, their futures and the fight against climate change. Communities already burdened by international debt are facing the additional weight of an “ecological debt” caused by industrial and consumption practices, which have disproportionately harmed poorer countries and their ecosystems.

In the spirit of the Jubilee year, we call on people, groups, schools, congregations and organizations to demand debt justice by signing our #TurnDebtIntoHope petition to send a clear, united message to global leaders, creditors and decision-makers to act with courage and compassion. This global petition carries a consistent call for debt justice while recognizing the unique realities of regional, national and local communities.