Mr Jacques Chirac
President of the French Republic
President-in-office of the G8
Berlin, 29 May 2003
Dear Mr President,
We are writing to you as Presidents of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) and the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) in view of the G8 Summit in Evian on 1-3 June.
First, we should like to say that the philosophy of the French Presidency regarding the G8, which is based on four principles, seems to us very close to the social teaching of the Church. Growth and solidarity form a couple which should over time enable the poorest of the world, and particularly of Africa, to emerge from their poverty. Without responsibility and democracy we cannot aspire to respect for the human dignity of all.
The coming days will mark the highpoint of your Presidency of the G8. We encourage you to put this philosophy into practice immediately.
The meeting with the five African Heads of State will certainly be the appropriate opportunity for you to put it into action and thus to provide new support from the G8 to the NEPAD initiative. This African initiative, which was at the heart of a meeting of African and European Bishops in Lisbon last February, deserves greater commitment from the developed countries. We continue to believe that it represents a realistic way to improve over time the fortunes of the African continent, of which several nations are today experiencing civil war, violence and injustice.
The rich countries - which today are largely absorbed by internal problems or other international challenges - must therefore not renege on their commitments to increase development assistance and to reduce the debt of poor countries. We ask you also to create the framework for African governments to respect their commitments to their own people, notably concerning good governance. In this way, the Evian Summit could signal the launch of a new mobilisation for a partnership which is not limited to the material dimension but which tries to base itself in human and transcendent values.
Reducing poverty involves sustainable economic growth and the equitable distribution of the fruits of growth. The prompt conclusion of the World Trade Organisation's Development Round could be an important factor for global growth to the benefit of poor countries. However, on a number of issues, the deadlines of the negotiating round have not been respected. We note in particular those concerning agriculture and access to medicines for the poorest countries. Giving a new impetus - with the other members of the G8 - to the WTO and the current negotiations would be in our eyes the most important contribution in the short term towards a better system of global governance.
This should be more strongly founded on justice and solidarity than the system of today. In this regard, a final point is particularly important to us. In a report prepared for the Bishops of COMECE by a high-level group of experts, the authors drew attention to the need for a small group - composed of heads of state and government - with the capacity and legitimacy to co-ordinate economic, social and environmental issues at the international level. With the exception of a World Environmental Organisation, we have plenty of international organisations. However, a body of co-ordination and dialogue between these organisations and countries is needed.
For this reason we should like to congratulate you for the initiative of inviting twelve other Heads of State and the Secretary General of the United Nations, as well as the directors of certain international organisations, for an enlarged dialogue with the members of the G8 on issues related to globalisation. This is not yet the "Global Governance Group" proposed in the above-mentioned report, but this dialogue is a step in this direction. We welcome it and, as African and European Bishops, we intend to encourage your European colleagues in the framework of the G8 to renew the experience as we await a more stable solution to this important question.
We should be grateful if you would pass this letter to the participants of the G8 Summit. With our best wishes for the Summit, and with the assurance of our prayers, we remain,
Yours sincerely,

+ Josef Homeyer
Bishop of Hildesheim (Germany)
President of COMECE

+ Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya
Archbishop of Kisangani (D.R.C.)
President of SECAM

42, rue Stévin
B - 1000 Bruxelles
Tél. + 32 (0)2 235 05 10
Fax + 32 (0)2 230 33 34
comece@comece.org