Conference seeks to mobilize U.S. Catholic community in efforts to end global poverty
Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
(PHOTO BY GREG TARCZYNSKI)
By Maurice Healy
Cardinal Renato Martino addresses the Point 7 Now conference held at St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in San Francisco, California on Friday October 27, 2006. The goal of the Point 7 Now conference is to reduce global poverty by mobilizing Catholics to influence U.S. policy toward the developing nations.
Christmas stamp features ‘Madonna and Child” stamp to the public. “This stamp exemplifies family, charity and generosity,” she said. About 700 million copies of the stamp have been printed. The selection of a stamp subject comes mainly from the public. Citizens submit proposals annually to the Postal Service Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, which evaluates all submissions and provides guidance on artwork and designs for stamp subjects. The first Madonna and Child stamp was issued in 1966.
DENVER (CNS) — Art lovers, stamp collectors and representatives of the U.S. Postal Service gathered at the Denver Art Museum recently for the unveiling of the 2006 religious Christmas stamp, which depicts “Madonna and Child With Bird,” a replica of an oil-on-canvas painting by Ignacio Chacon which dates from 1765. Katherine Tobin of the U.S Postal Service board of governors was on hand to help with the presentation of the new
SAN FRANCISCO —- In a world where half of the population is poor and more than one billion people endure a poverty so harsh that their very survival is at risk daily, the notion of eliminating extreme poverty from the world in our lifetime may seem utopian. But Columbia Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, author of “The End of Poverty” and keynote speaker at the “Point 7 Now” national conference on global poverty, Oct-2728, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, said with only a little more help from the United States and other developed nations, the lives of the world’s poorest people could be dramatically improved. America and other nations simply need to live up to the development assistance promises they made six years ago, he said. The “Point 7 Now” conference title refers to goals adopted by the nations of the world in September 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit, aimed at reducing extreme poverty and improving the lives of those living in the world’s poorest countries by the year 2015. Governments of most of the developed countries agreed to increase their aid to the poorest countries – pledging the equivalent of 0.7 of one percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) each year for development assistance. As part of the Millennium Development Declaration, the nations of the world specifically pledged to achieve eight goals, which include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal access to primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, and ensuring environmental sustainability. While a-half dozen countries have reached the “Point 7” assistance goal, the United States remains near the bottom of the list when aid by developed countries is measured as a percent of GDP. This lackluster performance is the reason for the subtitle of the “Point 7 Now” conference: “Keeping America’s promise to make poverty history.” The San Francisco conference aimed at building awareness and support for the Millennium Development Goals and the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty — an effort led by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services – which encourages citizens to advocate for policies that increase development aid, offer debt relief to poor countries and ensure that trade agreements benefit more than the wealthy. Nearly one thousand people registered for the two-day conference, which drew church leaders, economists and international development experts from around the world, and leaders from academia, business and labor, activists, lay leaders and diocesan officials from across the country. Archbishop George H. Niederauer, leader of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which was co-sponsored the CONFERENCE, page 5
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION News-in-brief . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Christians in Iraq. . . . . . . . 6
Nature of war
‘Catch a Fire’
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November 3, 2006
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St. Anthony builds . . . . . . . 9 Scripture and reflection . . 14 Archbishop on poverty. . . . 15 Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
News analysis
Classified ads. . . . . . . . 18-19
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SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
VOLUME 8
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No. 32