Puerto Rico archbishop comes to Washington as debt envoy

Archbishop Roberto González of San Juan, Puerto Rico came to Washington last week for a series of high-level meetings for help with the island’s debt crisis.

In meetings with officials in the Obama administration and congressional leaders, Archbishop González urged them to avoid austerity measures that would disproportionately harm the poor.

“I came away from all the meetings on the Hill in Washington with a deep sense of gratitude for the interest to help the people of Puerto Rico to endure this crisis with the least amount of austerity measures possible. I perceived this in Congress and the White House,” the archbishop told The Tablet in an email from Rome where he is attending the Synod on the Family. “My sense is that there is a new awareness of the situation of Puerto Rico and its relationship with the US as well as a certain moral responsibility towards Puerto Rico.” The archbishop was accompanied by Revd Heriberto Martinez Ramirez of the Puerto Rican Bible Society. They met White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Congresswoman Linda Sánchez, chairwoman of the Hispanic Caucus, and a bipartisan group of leaders and staff.

“Members of Congress are very responsive to religious leaders from Puerto Rico,” said Eric LeCompte, director of Jubilee USA, which coordinated the visit. “Most members have only heard from predatory hedge funds. The religious leaders are the voice they needed to hear.”