Pastoral Letter Lent 2005

To be read out at all Masses
Sunday 6 February 2005

My dear people of Arundel & Brighton,

In her book "Not on the label", the writer Felicity Lawrence describes a visit to a coffee farmer in Uganda, John Kafuluzi.

"At the other end of the track a strange caterpillar appeared. Four small pairs of scurrying legs sticking out from under an upturned 1960s sofa were making their way towards us. Some of John's children had been to a neighbour to borrow seating for the foreigner."

Felicity explains through an interpreter how much a cup of coffee costs in London. John begins to smile. "One cup, five thousand Ugandan shillings?" But his confused smile turns to tears. "No, you mean a kilo. No, I got only two hundred shillings a kilo for my coffee this year."

John's father is dying, but they can't afford medicine for him. His children take it in turns to go to school. They are also ill with malaria, but their parents can't afford medicine for that, either. The medicine would cost five thousand Ugandan shillings.

In 2002 a Ugandan farmer received 14 (one four) US cents for a kilo of coffee beans. Transport, milling and other costs meant that it cost 26 cents when it arrived at the export warehouse. The exporter dried, graded and packed the beans, raising the cost to 45 cents. By the time the beans were shipped to one of the major companies for processing, the cost had risen to $1.64 cents. When that same kilo of coffee was on the supermarket shelf as instant coffee, it was worth $26.40 cents - seven thousand per cent more than the farmer in Uganda was paid.

This is what Fairtrade is about. This may be an over-simplification, but the reality is that the coffee-market is controlled by a few large producers. In the year 2000, 26 per cent of the world's supply of coffee was bought by just two producers, the people that make Nescafe and Maxwell House. They decided what they would pay for it.

Lent is traditionally a time when we look at what we eat and drink, and the practice of fasting is an ancient and sound tradition. Fasting reminds us of our need for repentance, the changing of our ways. It should face us again with the challenge to live lives of poverty and humility, after the model of Jesus himself. Next Sunday's gospel tells us that Jesus himself went out into the wilderness and fasted for forty days. Fasting should also invite us to live in some sort of solidarity with the world's poor, with those who have no choice about whether they fast or not.

Fasting for us is a luxury. We have a whole range of things we can give up. Favourites seem to be alcohol and chocolate - hardly essential elements for survival, despite what we might think at times. But instead of the question, "Can I manage without chocolate or alcohol today?" what would it be like to wonder if I will get any food today at all.

The Fairtrade project itself will not solve the problems of world poverty and all that comes with it - high infant mortality rates, needless incidence of treatable diseases, poor education, all the signs of gross injustice. But it does two things, I think. It does address directly the imbalance of justice in the global market. It asks why a few world-wide producers are able to control prices (with the help of high national trade tariffs) and ensure enormous profits for themselves, while the farmer like John in Uganda gets pennies or cents for his produce. Fairtrade ensures that the farmer gets a realistic price for his produce, a price that reflects what we pay for it in our supermarkets - it is largely supermarket shopping that has produced the situation we have. Asda (with Wal-mart) and Tesco are two of the three largest retailers in the world.

But as well as trying to make practical changes in the way food is produced and sold, the Fairtrade project does ask us to think about our own buying and the whole issue of justice for all. Why is such a large percentage of the world's wealth in the hands of a few rich nations? Do we have any responsibility in any of that, and can we do anything about it? Has it anything to do with our Christian faith and our celebration of Mass? The answer to all of those is yes. The closing prayer of today's Mass says, "Help us to bring your salvation and joy to all the world." How would a Ugandan coffee-framer experience salvation and joy? And how do we bring it to him?

The supermarket chains have increased dramatically their range of fairly-traded goods, and this has been largely in response to consumer demand. People are asking why they don't carry more fairly-traded products, and supermarkets will go to great lengths to secure customer loyalty. We can do a few things as individuals to address the issue of world poverty and injustice: giving to organisations like CAFOD is one, supporting Fairtrade is another.

The Boxing Day tsunami disaster was met with an unprecedented wave of generosity from this and other countries. There are all sorts of reasons for that. But that burst of giving raises two concerns. One is that it must be sustained, because re-generation will take years, and that financial aid must continue. The other is that it has over-shadowed the enduring poverty in places like Africa, when Britain has made this year the year of Africa as Britain takes over the presidency of the EU. We are perhaps weary of the images of poverty in Africa and may feel that the poverty is inescapable. It isn't, but it will be until debts are cancelled and global trade and our shopping patterns change. In 1970 Kenya was largely self-sufficient in food. Now it imports much of its food. Its second biggest export after tea is flowers for our tables.

Today's first reading is wonderfully fitting, as Isaiah calls us to have concern for the poor and hungry. Chapter 58 of Isaiah is about fasting, and asks what fasting really is. He says, "Is it just a day when a person inflicts pain on himself?" The fast that is pleasing to the Lord is "to break unjust fetters.. and let the oppressed go free." "Share your bread with the hungry," Isaiah calls. We can also let them share their bread with us, as long as we pay them a just price for it.

With my prayers for you all for a rewarding and fruitful Lent.

Rt. Rev. Kieran Conry
Bishop of Arundel and Brighton

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