Stories written by Gabriel Neville
Neville Gabriel is the coordinator of the Justice and Peace Department of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, based in Pretoria, South Africa. He is also a member of the boards of trustees of the African Network on Debt and Development and the Southern Africa Trust, and a member of the board of governors of the Southern African Regional Poverty Network. He writes in his personal capacity.

WILL THE NEW POPE MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE FOR AFRICA?

By Gabriel Neville and - -
Will the election of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope make a difference for Africa? asks Neville Gabriel, coordinator of the Justice and Peace Department of the Southern African Catholic Bishops\' Conference, based in Pretoria, South Africa. In this article, Gabriel writes that the most urgent challenge facing the world today has more of a North-South than an East-West axis. The danger for Africa today is that intra-Northern competition for global economic and political dominance may mean another century dominated by East-West rivalry and conciliation, while the poorest of the world in Africa remain forgotten. While colonial political relations may have ended for Africa, colonial patterns still characterise Africa\'s economic relations with the world. The church under a new pontiff must actively work to at once transform Africa and its situation in the global community. The unmatchable popular pulling power of a pope with a pervasive social justice concern for Africa could make all the difference. However, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in his time as prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith has not demonstrated such a concern. His immediate concern has been the orthodoxy of internal church teaching. If Pope Benedict XVI continues in this vein, his papacy will change nothing in Africa\'s future.

INTERVIEW WITH FERNANDO SAVATER: ‘BUSH IS NOT ON THE SIDE OF CIVILISATION’

By Gabriel Neville and - -
The current war is not a response to either an invasion or to a United Nations decision but rather a long-term geopolitical strategy of the United States, states the writer and philosophy professor Fernando Savater, a leader of the Basta Ya movement, which represents the victims of terrorism in the Basque Country. In this interview for IPS, Savater argues, \'\'the rule of international law, however precarious, must be respected for political, not ethical, reasons. The war against Iraq has nothing to do with terrorism. No one could believe such an improbable and unsubstantiated linkage.\'\' \'\'The major political challenge of the 21st century is to establish international organisations for governance, education, justice, cooperation, etc., on a planetary scale. Today the dividing line between civilisation and technologised barbarism lies in this effort. I fear that Bush, disgracefully, is not on the side of civilisation.\'\'
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