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Miala tsiny fa tsy mbola misy amin’ny teny malagasy ity lahatsoratra ity.
Madagascar’s Catholic bishops have discussed US aid withdrawal, and care for both the poor and the island’s vital and vibrant environment, in a meeting with the Pope.
The Malagasy bishops travelled to the Vatican in a ‘pilgrimage of hope’ to meet Pope Leo XIV – the first such meeting since the latter was elected in May.
Bishop Marie-Fabien Raharilamboniaina, the Bishop of Morondava, led the bishops’ address to the Pope telling him about the poverty of Malagasy people, and amongst other things asking him to intercede with US president Donald Trump to reverse funding cuts to Madagascar and other states in the Global South.
As we noted in February this year, Trump’s administration has slashed funding to development and aid projects, including those run by non-governmental organisations, and direct funding to governments.
Though we do not receive US government funding, these cuts will impact all Malagasy men, women and children, and all organisations working, as we do, in Madagascar, by increasing hardship and challenges for all.
The Centre for Global Development estimates that cuts made by the US government, as well as others including the UK and the Netherlands, will – even after factoring in promised increases from Japan and South Korea – leave Madagascar with almost US$130,000,000 (£95.95m) less in 2026 than in 2024.
The Pope is unlikely to be able to have a great deal of impact on Donald Trump, most of who’s supporters have since Leo’s election been critical of the latter’s position on global and local economics, care for poor people, and the environment.
But he did offer a message to the bishops – and to all Catholics around the world: to work to care for both the world’s poorest people, and the environment of which we are all a part and upon which we all rely.
He said: ‘Never turn away from the poor. They are at the heart of the Gospel and are the privileged recipients of the proclamation of the Good News. Recognise in them the face of Christ. and may your pastoral action always be animated by concrete concern for the little ones.
‘Following Pope Francis, I invite you to take care of our common home, to preserve the beauty of the great island, whose beauty and fragility have been entrusted to you. The care of our home is an integral part of your prophetic mission. Take care of creation which groans and teach your faithful the art of protecting it with justice and peace.’
Roughly one-third of the Malagasy population is Catholic, but Money for Madagascar’s work – like that Pope Leo describes – reaches beyond those people, even as it includes them.
Because we know that very nearly four in every five Malagasy people – 79.9 per cent of the population – lives on or below the global poverty baseline of £1,73 per day. We know that well over one million Malagasy people are on the edge of starvation, and many, many more suffer hunger every day: 50 per cent of Malagasy children suffer stunting caused by malnutrition.
And we know that in the search for better incomes, and to escape hunger, many people are driven to removing parts of the Malagasy rainforest to access land on which they can grow more food.
But this forest is vital to the survival of life on Earth, while the creatures and plants within it have the right to live their lives, as any person does.
And the forest’s removal creates new land only in the short-term, as climate catastrophe, driven in part by the burning of the forests, leads to extreme rainfall, which washes away the fertile soil upon which Malagasy people rely.
