CSDC 450

The right to development must be taken into account when considering questions related to the debt crisis of many poor countries.⁹⁴⁴ Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 51: AAS 87AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 87 (1995) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1995), 36; John Paul II, Message for the 1998 World Day of Peace, 4: AAS 90AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 90 (1998) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1998), 151-152; John Paul II, Address to the Conference of the Inter-Parliamentarian Union (30 November 1998): Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, XXI, 2 (1998), 1162-1163; John Paul II, Message for the 1999 World Day of Peace, 9: AAS 91AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 91 (1999) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1999), 383-384. Complex causes of various types lie at the origin of the debt crisis. At the international level there are the fluctuation of exchange rates, financial speculation and economic neo-colonialism; within individual debtor countries there is corruption, poor administration of public monies or the improper utilization of loans received. The greatest sufferings, which can be traced back both to structural questions as well as personal behaviour, strike the people of poor and indebted countries who are not responsible for this situation. The international community cannot ignore this fact; while reaffirming the principle that debts must be repaid, ways must be found that do not compromise the “fundamental right of peoples to subsistence and progress”.⁹⁴⁵ John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 35: AAS 83AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 83 (1991) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1991), 838; cf. also the document At the Service of the Human Community: an Ethical Approach to the International Debt Question, published by the Pontifical Commission “Iustitia et Pax” (27 December 1986), Vatican City 1986.