Many commentators during this crisis have compared Allied policies of reconstruction and massive debt relief towards a defeated post-war Germany with the harsh austerity now being advocated by the same nation towards poor Greece (The Tablet, News, 11 July).
Has there been a specifically Christian analysis of this situation, to which, on the face of it, the warnings of Christ in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-35) would appear unerringly relevant. Should the German Churches not be taking this as their main text for sermons this coming weekend?
And yes I know the Germans have taken all sorts of measures, involving their own hard cash, since the war to compensate for what was done in their name, but they have to remember how little of the sums given to Greece recently has stayed there and how much has returned to German (and other countries) banks. The remedy for this is not to be found in torturing Greece but in addressing the systemic inequalities of the neoliberal world economy as set out with limpid clarity everywhere by Pope Francis.
Alec Dunn, Wirral
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