Pope urges wealthy nations to share abundance with poor countries

Published: 2005-06-16

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI urged the world's wealthiest nations to share their abundance with poorer nations. "Our hearts cannot be at peace as long as we see our brothers and sisters suffering from a lack of food, work, shelter or other fundamental goods," he said June 16 in a speech to seven new ambassadors to the Holy See. "The earth indeed has the capacity to nurture all its inhabitants, provided that rich countries do not keep for themselves that which belongs to all," the pope said after the ambassadors presented their credentials. The pope's comments came just a few days after the Group of Eight industrialized nations pledged to write off more than $40 billion of debt owed by the poorest nations. The ambassadors from Switzerland, New Zealand, Malta, Azerbaijan, Zimbabwe, Guinea, and Rwanda represented some of the richest and poorest nations on the earth.

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