Spanish bishops applaud government’s efforts to alleviate world hunger

Madrid, Spain, Sep 21, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Fr. Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, Secretary and Spokesman for the Bishops Conference of Spain, applauded the decision by Spain this week to join in an initiative to eradicate world hunger, even if that means “tightening our belts.”

The spokesman for the Spanish bishops called the government’s decision to contribute to the special program “excellent.”  Spain joined Chile, France and Brazil, among other countries, in adopting UN measures that aim to alleviate poverty and hunger.

Fr. Martinez Camino said it was “very good news” that Spain, “with a level of development higher than that of half of the world, is involved in promoting greater justice that will enable development in other countries, even though it means we may have to tighten our belts”

Speaking with reporters before the commencement of a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Spanish Bishops Conference, Fr. Martinez Camino explained that the agreement reached at the UN Summit on World Hunger builds upon the work that the Catholic Church, as well as various other religious communities, has “always” carried out through the efforts of teachers, missionaries, and different Catholic organizations, in order to bring an end to “this drama that affects millions of people.”

Divorce Laws in Spain 

Regarding the government approval of new laws on divorce, Fr. Martinez Camino stated that the revised measures “are not a good idea,” since to make divorce easy is to neglect the serious problem of the failure of countless marriages.

According to Fr. Martinez Camino, to make divorce easy “does not mean greater development nor greater liberty, but rather more problems.”