The Archbishop of Canterbury, with the other three presidents, praised the "unprecedented scale" of compassion shown after the tsunami. "But each day, 30,000 people die of hunger and poverty and disease. And these are deaths which are within human power to prevent."
"Our own continent can only live in peace and prosperity in a world that is habitable and which is not divided by the scourge of poverty. We have to redouble our efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Reducing extreme poverty and hunger by half by 2015 is an obligation we have accepted, not a vague aspiration."
The House of Bishops, meeting in Leeds last week, contrasted the public response to the tsunami with the "woefully inadequate" political will to attain the MDGs. The bishops said they would mobilise the Church during a Global Week of Action (10-16 April), as well as during the G8 summit in July.
By Bill Bowder
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