Vatican City: An alarming truth lies at the heart of the global economic system: nearly half the world’s population—some 3.3 billion people—live in countries that spend more on debt repayments than on healthcare. That stark reality was brought into focus during an international town hall organized this week by Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church’s global humanitarian network.

The virtual gathering, held Wednesday, brought together over 200 participants, including Vatican officials, economists of global stature, and grassroots aid workers, to confront the deepening crisis of debt, inequality, and climate vulnerability in the world’s poorest regions.

Opening the forum, Alistair Dutton, Secretary-General of Caritas Internationalis, condemned a financial system where economic interests trump basic human needs. “When nations are forced to prioritize debt servicing over schools and hospitals, it’s clear humanity has taken a backseat,” Dutton said.

He emphasized that the crisis of unsustainable debt is not just a fiscal problem, but a human tragedy—and one that has caught the attention of the newly-elected Pope Leo XIV. Within weeks of his papal inauguration, the Holy Father echoed the urgent need for debt reform, continuing a legacy established by his predecessor, Pope Francis. In 2024, Francis had called for an international mechanism to restructure sovereign debt, warning against a survival-of-the-fittest model that leaves the weakest nations behind.

Caritas’ Turn Debt Into Hope campaign was front and center at the town hall. As campaign coordinator Alfonso Apicella explained, the initiative seeks to galvanize the global Catholic community—1.4 billion strong—to demand the cancellation of unjust and unpayable debts.

“We’re trying to show that the faithful are not passive bystanders,” Apicella noted. “They have a voice, and that voice can shift the global conversation—especially in the lead-up to the 2025 Jubilee Year, a time traditionally associated with debt forgiveness and mercy.”

One of the forum’s leading voices was Professor Martín Guzmán, economist at Columbia University and former Argentine finance minister. Drawing from his own country’s experiences, Guzmán described a system rigged against the Global South: poorer nations are forced to borrow at punitive rates compared to their wealthier counterparts, exacerbating inequality and stalling development.

He referenced the work of the Vatican’s Jubilee Commission of Experts—chaired by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz—which is preparing a report on systemic financial injustices and their impact on developing nations.

Sister Alessandra Smerilli, Secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, widened the lens to include environmental responsibility. She invoked Pope Francis’ concept of “ecological debt”—the moral obligation of wealthier nations to address the climate damage disproportionately suffered by low-emitting, vulnerable countries.

That theme was echoed by Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations. He stressed that debt is more than an economic constraint—it is a direct obstacle to human dignity and progress. “This isn’t simply a technical issue,” he said. “It’s a structural barrier to the flourishing of entire societies.”

The message of the town hall was unequivocal: the global debt crisis is not inevitable—it is the result of choices and structures that can be changed. Caritas and its partners are urging policymakers, international institutions, and religious communities to reimagine a financial system that places human lives and planetary well-being at its core.

As the world looks ahead to the Jubilee Year 2025, Caritas hopes that its message will not only be heard—but acted upon. For the billions weighed down by debt, time is not an abstract economic variable. It is a question of survival.