-----Original Message----- From: Thomas E Ambrogi <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: 28 August 1999 16:33 Subject: [BRC-NEWS] Unchaining Slaves of National Debt >[ Moderator: Jubilee 2000 USA is located at http://www.j2000usa.org/ ] > >http://www.natcath.com/public/032699a.htm > >National Catholic Reporter > >March 26, 1999 > >Goal for 2000: unchaining slaves of national debt > >By THOMAS E. AMBROGI <[log in to unmask]> > >On May 16, 1998, representatives of the eight wealthiest nations in the >world -- known as the Group of 8, or G8 -- held their annual summit >meeting in Birmingham, England. An astounding throng of 70,000 people from >all over the United Kingdom was assembled there by the Jubilee 2000 >Campaign, to create a human chain seven miles long around the conference >center and to raise the chant of "Break the chains of debt," calling for >cancellation of the crushing debt of impoverished countries by the year >2000. > >It was the first audible cry of a roar for justice that is beginning to be >heard in every corner of the world, and that calls for echoing action in >the churches of the United States. > >The Jubilee 2000 -- or J2K -- Campaign is a coalition of unprecedented >international breadth and vitality that has grown dramatically around the >world in the past two years. The campaign has its roots in communities of >faith, but it includes secular groups of every political stripe, all >sharing a moral commitment to a debt-free fresh start for the world's >poorest nations. > >It draws inspiration from the Year of Jubilee every 50 years described in >Leviticus 25. But you don't have to be a believing Jew or Christian to >rise to the vision of liberation projected in this remarkable movement. > >An English political economist at the University of Keele named Martin >Dent first had the idea of linking the debt crisis to the concept of >Jubilee and the millennium. In 1990, he began to circle the globe alone, >gaining access to finance ministers and bank presidents to share debt >cancellation tables and the Jubilee vision he had worked out. He finally >raised enough initial funding, and the first tiny Jubilee 2000 office was >opened in London in April of 1996. > >The international coalition that has since developed has organizing >offices in some 60 countries on all five continents. Each national office >shares a common logo of breaking chains and is exchanging ideas on the >Internet. The first international conference of Jubilee 2000 was held in >November 1998 in Rome, with 38 national J2K campaigns and 12 international >organizations represented. > >That conference agreed to coordinate a Global Chain Reaction that will >work toward a target of 22 million signatures -- the biggest petition in >history -- to be delivered as part of an international event at the next >Summit of the G8 countries on June 19 in Cologne, Germany. > >Strong calls for Third World debt cancellation have been issued by all >world church bodies, including the Vatican, the U.S. Catholic Conference >and numerous national bishops' conferences, the recent Lambeth Conference >and the World Council of Churches Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe. > >Compared to the rest of the world, grassroots awareness on this issue is >in its infancy in the United States. The Jubilee 2000/USA campaign was >launched in June 1997, at the annual G8 Summit held in Denver. A national >office was opened in early 1998 in Washington, and an excellent education >packet is being distributed widely as an organizing tool in religious and >community groups around the country. > >The U.S. campaign grew out of the Religious Working Group on the World >Bank and the IMF, a coalition of some 40 Catholic and Protestant >organizations that had been working on debt relief for several years. Its >steering committee includes every major denomination and social justice >organization in the faith community. The committee collaborates with the >U.S. Catholic Conference and the National Council of Churches and hopes to >develop similar working relationships in the Muslim and Jewish >communities. > >The Year of Jubilee > >The context for the economic and political renewal being proposed lies in >the "Jubilee" year as proclaimed in Leviticus 25, which called for a >comprehensive remission of obligations to take place on every "Sabbath's >Sabbath." > >"You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that >the period ... gives 49 years. ... And you shall hallow the 50th year and >proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants." > >The ram's horn call to Jubilee is an urgent mandate for overcoming the >systemic structures of injustice and poverty. It is intended to bring a >new beginning for all, to restore justice and equality and to protect and >nurture the land. It is remarkable that the first call is for liberty of >the land itself. > >In Chapter 25, we hear God say, "You shall grant a redemption of the >land." It is a year of solemn rest, a fallow year for the sake of the >land, when "all its yield shall be for food" and not for profit. And for >the inhabitants, all leased or encumbered or forfeited land shall be >returned to its original owners: "Each shall return to his property"; >slaves shall be redeemed and set free; and each community member shall be >released from all debts. > >The Sabbath and Jubilee codes are also spelled out in Deuteronomy 15, >especially in the call for every creditor to release what he has lent to >his neighbor. > >Although there is no evidence that the Jubilee program was ever carried >out, the theological premise of all these texts is that Jubilee >restructuring of the community's assets is to remind Israel that the land >belongs to God and that they are strangers and sojourners in the land, an >Exodus people who must never return to a system of possessive slavery over >one another. > >Isaiah 61 appropriates the Jubilee vision in the prophetic call to "bring >good news to the poor and liberty to the captives" and to proclaim "the >year of the Lord's favor." It was this text that Jesus of Nazareth chose, >above all others, to define his mission and inaugurate his ministry in >Luke 4. And it is this bold and central affirmation that relates the >biblical notion of Jubilee to the mission to break the chains of debt in >the impoverished countries of the world. > >The J2K platform addresses the debt of all impoverished countries. The >campaign believes that, as a minimum, debt relief should be offered to the >40 nations identified as "heavily indebted poor countries." Several key >ideas in the five specific points of the platform should be highlighted. > >First, the call is to definitive debt cancellation -- not just reducing or >rescheduling debt service. > >Second, only unpayable debts are under consideration. > >Third, the cancellation must not be conditioned on the drastic policy >reforms currently demanded by structural adjustment programs, which >perpetuate poverty and environmental degradation. > >Fourth, there must be recognition that both lenders and borrowers are >responsible and that joint creative action is needed to recover resources >that have been stolen by corrupt regimes. > >Finally, it must be cancellation that benefits ordinary people and on >terms that are agreed to in a transparent and participatory process that >will break the cycle of future debt. > >Scope, size of debt crisis > >Debt relief is an urgent matter of justice, not a plea for charity. The >debt burden in the most impoverished nations is both economically >unsustainable and morally unacceptable. Impoverished countries are >economically trapped into making unending and compounding interest >payments on their debts. This requires them to divert large amounts of >scarce resources from health care, education and food security, ensuring >that any real economic development will be impossible. > >Furthermore, ordinary people did not benefit from many of the loans that >gave rise to this debt, but, under the rules of the global economic game, >they bear the principal burden of repayment, keeping both them and future >generations unjustly chained in dehumanizing poverty. > >Until one sees how foreign debt touches lives, it remains only an academic >debate among economists and ministers of finance. The J2K Coalition aims >to make sure that it is seen as more than that. Ethical analysis, rooted >in human dignity, is as fundamental as economic analysis in solving the >debt crisis. > >The overall global debt of all developing countries, according to United >Nations statistics, was $567 billion in 1980 and $1.4 trillion in 1992. In >that same 12-year period, total foreign debt payments from Third World >countries amounted to $1.6 trillion. This means that, having already paid >back three times over the $567 billion they had borrowed, far from being >less in debt, in 1992 they owed 250 percent more than they owed in 1980. > >There are 40 countries that are described by the World Bank as "heavily >indebted." They owe about $213 billion in foreign debts, according to >World Bank President James Wolfensohn. Thirty-three of them are in Africa. > >Many African countries spend four times as much servicing debt each year >as they do on health care and education for their citizens. It is reliably >estimated that for every dollar given in development aid, three dollars >come back to rich countries in debt-service payments. > >The debt that is held by impoverished countries is of three kinds: > >* Multilateral debt is owed to international financial institutions, such >as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund or regional development >banks, such as the Inter-American Development Bank or the African >Development Bank. Forty-five percent of debt owed by heavily impoverished >nations is multilateral. > >* Bilateral debt is owed to individual governments, such as the United >States, France and Japan. These governments meet in two groups: the Paris >Group (United States, Japan and European nations) and the non-Paris Group >(Asia and Eastern Europe). Forty-five percent of debt owed by heavily >impoverished nations is bilateral. > >* Commercial debt is owed to international commercial banks, such as >Citibank. Ten percent of heavily impoverished nations' debt is commercial. > >From the earliest days of the debt crisis, access to multimillion-dollar >loans from the World Bank and IMF was made contingent on a country's >agreement to carry out a drastic program of economic "liberalization." > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >The rapid introduction of liberalization programs is terribly traumatic to >a people already limping under the crushing burden of foreign debt. >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >This array of monetary, budgetary, market and trade reforms have together >come to be known as "Structural Adjustment Policies." The package varies >in detail from country to country, but the main policies include: reducing >the state's role in the economy, lowering barriers to imports, removing >restrictions on foreign investment, raising taxes, eliminating subsidies >for food staples and for local industries, reducing spending for social >welfare, cutting wages, devaluing the currency and emphasizing production >for export rather than for local consumption. > >Liberalization means freeing the economy from government control, in the >presumption that a relatively unregulated free market will bring growth >that trickles down for the benefit of everyone. But the rapid introduction >of such programs is terribly traumatic to a people already limping under >the crushing burden of foreign debt, as the history of every impoverished >country has clearly shown. > >If all state-owned enterprises are privatized -- such as electricity, >transport and communications -- many low-wage workers are likely to lose >their jobs. When the national currency is devalued to make exports cheaper >on the world market and unlimited foreign investment is encouraged, and >tariffs and import quotas are lowered, local producers rapidly lose >control of their own economy. > >Abolishing subsidies for local industries, raising interest rates and >restricting credit will put many small enterprises out of business and >bankrupt many small farmers. > >Structural adjustment policies demand that real wages be reduced, that >taxes be increased and that government spending for health and welfare be >reduced, all in order to balance the budget. And, finally, agricultural >and industrial production must be shifted from food staples and basic >goods for domestic use to export products that will bring in hard foreign >currency. > >UNICEF regularly documents how the cost of such policies is borne >disproportionately by the poor and their children. The austerity demanded >in social spending and domestic policies, in order to demonstrate an >impoverished nation's "fiscal responsibility," translates most directly >into fewer social services for the poor, the elimination of consumer >subsidies for basic food staples and public transportation, schools >without teachers or textbooks, and health clinics without nurses or >medicine. As Julius Nyerere, the great former president of Tanzania, has >cried out, "Must we starve our children to pay our debts?" > >The debt crisis first came to public attention in August 1982 when Mexico >announced it could not pay the interest and principal due on its foreign >debt. Some 25 other developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America >(including Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela), soon followed Mexico or >threatened to do so. This was all unthinkable -- countries just did not go >bankrupt -- and the issue of unrepayable debt has hounded the >international community ever since. > >Among many other complex factors, much of the debt crisis can be traced >back to 1973-74, when the OPEC countries quadrupled the price of oil. >Oil-exporting countries had a surplus of $433 billion between 1974 and >1981, so they deposited it in commercial banks in the United States, >Europe and Japan. When these banks found themselves awash in new money, >there was a rush to encourage -- even push -- developing countries to >borrow, often at very low and variable rates of interest. > >In 1979-80, OPEC again doubled the price of oil. In the early to >mid-1980s, there was a worldwide collapse of commodity prices, especially >copper, and many African countries also suffered a severe drought that >resulted in one of the worst famines of this century. When variable >interest rates skyrocketed to more than 20 percent in just a few years, >impoverished nations found themselves in an impossible position, far >beyond what they had bargained for when they took their original loans. > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Even the most notorious corruption did not discourage the lending. >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >During the Cold War, donor governments (such as the United States) were >often more interested in gaining allies than in whether receiving >governments really served their people or whether the money went to >productive purposes. Billions were lent by Northern governmental and >multilateral creditors to repressive or irresponsible Third World >governments for reasons the majority of their people neither knew about >nor agreed with and from which they derived no benefit. > >Many projects were poorly designed or badly planned, buildings and power >stations that were never completed and roads that led to nowhere. It was >often wasteful misspending that left behind no productive capacity to >repay the loans. > >Even the most notorious corruption did not discourage the lending: to >Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire, Suharto in >Indonesia, Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua. It was well-known by creditor >banks that little of this money ever reached the people, and that most of >it was being siphoned into Swiss bank accounts or wasted on repressive and >self-serving military adventures. > >Cold War collusion and corruption left behind a dreadful heritage of now >unpayable debt in Third World countries. In similar circumstances today, >the leaders of post-apartheid South Africa call the unjust burdens they >have inherited "odious debt" and declare that in justice it should simply >be written off. > >Debt resulting from theft by oppressive elites creates complex ethical, >economic and political challenges when the question of debt cancellation >gets serious. But it simply reaffirms the undeniable principle that >responsibility for the foreign debt crisis lies not only with the debtor >nations but with debtors and creditors alike. > >It was with this in mind, for instance, that African countries asked >Jubilee 2000 to use the word impoverished rather than poor to describe >them, arguing that developing countries are actively being impoverished by >the international political and financial system. > >As we have seen, J2K is not calling for the cancellation of all debt, >carte blanche, but rather of debt that is unpayable. Determining a debt to >be unpayable is not simply a bottom-line exercise of determining whether a >debt can physically be paid or not. The calculation grid is far more >complex than a simple balance sheet. > >Unpayable foreign debt can better be defined as debt whose repayment would >cost such human suffering that no honorable creditor would seek to exact >it. Debt should also be declared unpayable whenever the cost of debt >service is more than the financial resources needed to achieve significant >human development. > >A 1987 Vatican statement on the ethics of debt cancellation put it another >way: "No government can morally demand of its people privations that are >incompatible with human dignity" ("At the Service of the Human Community: >An Ethical Approach to the International Debt Question"). > >The most urgent unpayable debt is that of the 41 nations that are declared >by the World Bank and the IMF to be heavily impoverished nations. The J2K >campaign is both simple in its call and sophisticated in its analytical >approach, with a careful focus on specific countries and specific debts. >The reality is that almost all of the debt in these countries cannot and >will not be repaid, and it is senseless for creditors to believe >otherwise. > >These impoverished countries cannot develop healthy economies as long as >millions of their people are being denied basic health care and education >and earn wages so low that they can barely survive. Cancellation of this >crushing debt burden is the most practical way to reduce poverty and >restart impoverished economies, as well as to protect the global >environment -- which undergoes enormous degradation under the pressure to >develop export markets to meet the demands of debt repayment. > >True market value > >Because the face value, or official amount, of these debts will never be >repaid, the true market value of the debts is only a fraction of their >face value. Bilateral debts of impoverished nations to the U.S. >government, for instance, are heavily discounted, generally worth only >about 10-15 percent of the original loan. Donor nations and lending >institutions will not suffer to any great extent by writing off these >debts, since contributions needed would be based on true market value. > >In effect, Western governments received what they paid for -- support in >the Cold War -- and they have already been well repaid over many years of >debt servicing. > >There are numerous precedents for debt relief, including cancellation. In >1953, Germany negotiated an accord with the Allied powers in which, in >addition to having about 80 percent of its war debt written off, it was >required to use only 3 to 5 percent of export earnings to pay back the >rest of its foreign debt. Impoverished nations are currently required to >use 20-25 percent of their earnings for debt repayment, and it is ironic >that Germany now sits on the IMF Board that enforces that stringent >demand. > >In the late 1980s, creditor countries cancelled about 50 percent of >Poland's debt, as the Iron Curtain was beginning to come down. In 1991, >the United States forgave $7 billion in debt that Egypt owed, in gratitude >for Egyptian assistance in the Gulf War. > >Here at home, a Stanford University study showed that the U.S. government >bailout of savings and loans companies in the early 1990s will cost the >American people $1.36 trillion over the 40-year life of the bonds that >have been floated to make good those irresponsible and illegal >transactions in junk bonds. Most American taxpayers are unaware just how >generous they have been in cancelling that debt for the S&Ls, or that they >are paying depositors 100 percent of their loss rather than only up to the >$100,000 maximum usually covered by FDIC, the Federal Deposit Insurance >Corporation. > >No argument can be made that, as a nation, we simply cannot afford the >money required for debt cancellation in the impoverished nations. The >question is political will, not economic possibility. > >J2K supports the cancellation of crushing international debt because the >biblical calls to Jubilee and to care for the poor are compelling, and >because it is simply the right thing to do. At the same time, however, in >an increasingly globalized world there are many practical reasons why it >is in the enlightened self-interest of industrialized nations to relieve >the debt burden of impoverished countries, and these reasons have their >own persuasive power. > >First, a major governing principle of the capitalist economic system is >the need for ever-expanding markets. The huge debts of impoverished >nations and the rigid imposition of structural adjustment austerity >frequently lead to social conflict, political instability and government >repression. When this is added to crumbling infrastructures and a poorly >educated and unhealthy workforce, it is unrealistic to expect foreign >investment and market development. > >Greater political stability and economic possibility would make lower >income countries better markets for goods and services and more attractive >to corporate investors. > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Environmental damage on a vast scale does not respect national borders. >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Second, the need to repay foreign debt in hard currencies like U.S. >dollars usually results in lax environmental protection and the misuse of >natural resources. Unmanageable debt service easily translates into soils >that are eroded and toxically depleted in the rush to raise cash crops, >into waters that are polluted and overfished, into clear-cut rain forests >and unregulated mining practices. > >Environmental damage on such a vast scale does not respect national >borders, and rich countries must realize that the impact of this damage is >also felt in their own backyard. The debt burden carried by impoverished >countries has global repercussions and impoverishes us all. > >To call for Third World debt cancellation is in effect to take on all the >major social and economic issues at once, and the focus of one's analysis >continually widens. Migration patterns, for instance, are directly related >to economic possibilities that have been wiped out by the demands of debt >repayment. As the president of the Latin American Bishops' Conference has >recently said, "When there is no development in the South, migrants will >continue flowing north, because it's a situation of despair." > >International drug traffic is likewise related to the debt crisis. To >repay their high international debt, the major drug-producing nations need >hard currency from drug-consuming countries like the United States. The >sale of cocaine and opium produces that hard currency, and the cycle of >the drug fix continues. > >In 1996, there was a major shift by the IMF and the member nations of the >World Bank when they announced the "Heavily Indebted Poor Country >Initiative." The event was historic because the Bretton Woods >institutions, for all the 50 years of their existence, had never >considered writing off or rescheduling the debts owed to them. The intent >of the initiative was to reduce a debtor nation's overall burden to a >"sustainable" level, and that was in itself groundbreaking in the long >history of international debt negotiations. > >Too little too late > >But many nongovernmental organizations and faith-based groups view the >initiative as flawed in its design and intent. The criteria to qualify are >too strict, the amounts offered are too small and the length of time >required to prove credit-worthiness is too long, so that the whole process >is simply too little and too late. Furthermore, in addition to continuing >to insist on an array of structural adjustment programs, the initiative is >intended only to restore a debtor country's ability to repay its loans, >without any real consideration of debt cancellation. > >In November of 1998, the peoples of Central America suffered the ravages >of Hurricane Mitch, which wiped out decades of painful development effort. >There are a few hopeful rays of light in steps that have been taken by the >international financial community to address this disaster. > >Nicaragua and Honduras, among the poorest nations in the hemisphere, with >nearly half their people living below the poverty line, are the focus of >most international attention. Honduras owes about $4.1 billion to >international creditors, which is almost one-third of the government's >total revenue last year. It takes $400 million a year to service that >debt. > >Nicaragua owes about $6.1 billion, the highest per capita debt in the >world. That takes $254 million a year to service, which is about 52 >percent of all its export revenue and almost three times the country's >spending on health and education combined. > >Honduras needs to rebuild more than 170 bridges destroyed by Hurricane >Mitch and to build new housing for more than 2 million homeless persons. >Whole villages were washed away. Whole banana plantations -- not just >their crops -- were washed away. There will not be another banana for >export from Honduras for at least two and probably three years. Chiquita >Banana and United Fruit shareholders will no doubt come down on their feet >with tax writeoffs, but thousands of campesinos will have no work whatever >for months and perhaps years ahead. > >George Bush came down right away and offered condolences, but no mention >of possible debt cancellation. Hillary Clinton visited the area in >mid-November, announcing a two-year moratorium on U.S. debt repayments -- >offering to postpone, but not cancel, $54 million that the two countries >were scheduled to repay through the year 2000. > >Then, in December, a crisis consultation was called in Washington between >the affected countries and the Paris Club ministers of finance, including >the United States. Word finally came in early January that the Paris Club >has agreed to forgive 80 percent of Nicaragua's debt, consider a similar >reduction for Honduras and postpone for three years all payments on both >countries' loans. > >Full details of all this are still hard to come by, but it is a historic >event and should be saluted as such. It will free more than $400 million >for reconstruction in the area. Advocates of Jubilee 2000 hope it will >serve as an example for future deliberations on the Jubilee cancellation >of debt. > >Still more promising are two broader initiatives on the international >scene. In mid-January, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder launched his >own proposal for alleviating the burdens of the most indebted nations, >calling on the G8 nations to make this a priority at their June summit in >Cologne. > >Given Germany's regrettable history of foot-dragging on this issue in >World Bank/IMF deliberations, and given the fact that Schroeder will play >host to the next G8 meeting in Cologne, his remarkable initiative should >be applauded and encouraged in every possible political arena. This is, >after all, the same June meeting of the G8 in Cologne to which the J2K >Campaign hopes to bring 22 million signatures on a world-wide petition >with the same objectives. > >At the 1999 World Economic Forum in late January, which brought together >2,000 movers and shakers of the international financial community in >Davos, Switzerland, Vice President Al Gore made a similar plea for a >debt-relief plan for impoverished nations. Without giving any details, he >pledged a new U.S.-led initiative to eliminate the debt burdens of >developing countries, relieving them of their current burden of interest >payments. > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >The energy and speed with which the Jubilee 2000 Campaign has spread >around the world is without precedent in international movements. >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >According to The New York Times, Gore promised that the Clinton budget >being sent to Capitol Hill would include "significant new U.S. funding" to >pay off debts of impoverished nations, many in Africa, but further news >reports never made mention of such a budget initiative. It may be hoped, >however, that the pledge made by Gore at Davos would imply the >administration's support for debt cancellation legislation, which will >certainly be introduced in the 106th Congress this year. > >The energy and speed with which the Jubilee 2000 Campaign has spread >around the world is without precedent in international movements. The >extraordinary human chain that is being forged around the debt crisis is a >sign of something new afoot -- a significant new momentum and an >international awakening that declares that new beginnings are indeed >possible for the poor, if only the political will can be generated to make >that happen. > >The hidden blessing in the debt crisis may be that it will force the world >toward a new global order, and there is more than a hint of this vision in >the realistically ambitious goals of Jubilee 2000. To achieve the goal of >debt cancellation in the most impoverished countries would put the world >on the road toward creating humane alternatives beyond self-interest, >economic systems in which conscious commitments to justice and compassion, >rather than blind mechanisms or invisible hands, are counted on to make >things right between peoples. > >If significant cancellation of debt is achieved, it will by its very >nature force a widening range of new political and economic initiatives >that will be revolutionary beyond our imagining. Traditional structural >adjustment requirements will be replaced with adjustment programs that >better meet the needs of poor people and promote participatory and >equitable human development. > >A moment to grasp > >This, in turn, will force the governments of developing nations to ensure >support for basic needs such as education, nutrition and health care, to >prevent environmental degradation, to reduce inappropriate levels of >military spending, to effectively seek recovery of resources that were >diverted to corrupt regimes, and -- most important of all -- to develop >democratic, transparent processes unique to each nation whereby debts will >not be cancelled nor new loans ever again assumed without popular debate >and the participation of civil society. > >The millennium is a key moment in time, a kairos, a moment that must be >grasped. The Jubilee 2000 initiative clearly is poised to make a radical >difference in our connectedness with a developing world that deserves more >than the share it is getting of the riches of God's good earth. > >The J2K Coalition has already demonstrated that it has the potential to >develop a broad convergence of political, economic and moral forces such >as that which once ended slavery, and, in our time, apartheid. An >effective political network is what urgently needs building, especially in >the churches and the wider faith communities in this country. > >The convergence will not hold indefinitely. For the sake of the brothers >and the sisters, we dare not let the millennial moment pass us by. > > >Thomas E. Ambrogi is a theologian and human rights advocate who lives with >his wife in Pilgrim Place, an ecumenical community of retired church >professionals in Claremont, Calif. > >Copyright (c) 1999 National Catholic Reporter > > >[Articles on BRC-NEWS may be forwarded and posted on other mailing >lists/discussion forums, as long as proper attribution is given to the >author and originating publication, and the wording is not altered in >any way. In particular, if there is a reference to a web site where an >article was originally located, please do *not* remove that. > >Do *not* publish or post the entire text of any copyrighted articles on >web sites (web-based discussion forums exempted) or in print, without >getting *explicit* permission from the article author or copyright >holder. 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