poverty

The coverage of this month’s Papal visit focused on many things. From the set piece church services and planting of kisses on babies’ foreheads to whether the UK is becoming “aggressively secular” or not.

But I’d like to highlight a few points which lay at the core of the visit but which formed little of the commentary; issues close to the heart of the communities that Progressio works with in the developing world. 

The UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, today thanked Progressio supporters for their commitment to tackling global poverty ahead of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) review summit in New York next week.
 
At a formal hand-in of Progressio’s MDG petition, backed by hundreds of Progressio members and campaigners, the Secretary of State said he would do all he could to make the summit a success.
 

Christine Allen writes about her meeting with Pope Benedict XVI on the first day of his visit to the UK

Progressio today welcomes comments made by the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, who said that he understands why condoms are seen as an “attractive” option when considered in the context of developing world poverty.

In an interview with BBC WM, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols said: “I think when it comes to Third World poverty, and the great pressure under which many women are put by men, I can see the arguments why, in the short-term, (the) means that give women protection are attractive.”