Kill poverty with: rule of law; property rights; open government; honest dealings among citizens.
When the poorest countries rid themselves of strong-man rulers, defend the rights of their own minorities, protect everyone's property, demand an open government, and are honest, soon they'll be rich.

lee, Alexandria, VA, usa

Agree with Kate Corwyn. Isnt it time these people took some responsibility for their own plight by limiting their offspring instead of holding the rest of the worlds conscience hosage to their uncontrolled procreation?

Frank, London, UK

The Churches deny 3rd world people access to contraception and to condoms. Then they spend money on fancy conferences, gold thread embroidery etc. I'm sure they will be glad to know that people are praying for their souls whilst they die of AIDS and their children starve.

kate corwyn, bristol,

The gender of bishops is a more vital issue than (say) pews vs bucket seats, about which we also obsess. But on both, Jesus was strangely silent. Even His (hard) teaching on sex would occupy a small leaflet, beside the volumes He spoke on money, and the attendant issues of (in)justice and idolatry.

joe, birmingham, uk

Undoubtedly the feature that will have the most definite effect on world poverty is population limitation. It is a necessary requirement without which there will be no solution to the poverty problem. The best way to reduce infant mortality is to reduce the number of infant births so that those who are born can get better treatment. I submit that the Church is as well placed as any organisation to help to bring about population control, and should concentrate on using its influence and resources to this end.

Henry Percy, London, UK

And exactly how much is the Lambeth Conference costing? And Greg Lorriman, your opinion re: the purpose of Christianity only justifies my own commitment to humanism. Helping others drag themselves out of dire circumstances is surely more important than glorifying a deity that may not exist

Sophie, Liverpool,

Religion, superstition, blah blah, nonsense......funny clothes, funny hats... Oh for that day when the brain takes over......

Ian Hendry, Boston, US

Greg, I see what you mean but knowledge of the love of God is only as important as expressing that love. James reminds us in 2:15-16 that if the Church does not do anything about the physical poverty of people around it, it does not understand what Jesus would want. Action must follow prayer.

Peter, London, United Kingdom

Let the Church do what it was created to do: busy itself with peoples' souls. Since when has it been primarily a charitable organisation? There are plenty of NGO's and similar organisations who are feeding the poor and starving far more efficiently than the Church(es). Back to the drawing board!

Nick Michael, Nyon, Switzerland

Does this mean the bishop will withdraw his support for the agitators campaigning incessantly for women bishops and gay bishops? Or is it merely a cynical demand that those resisting this assault should lie down and surrender? After all, if he doesn't want 'distraction', why is he encouraging it?

Roger Pearse, Ipswich,

Archbishop,
The plank is in my eye. The mote is in the eye of the other. You have the idea of relative blindness the wrong way around. Probably a typo, but an important principle that ought to stop Christians sounding smug.

S. Harvey, Lausanne, Switzerland

Mealy-mouthed words, but when I asked you for help for Zimbabwe, your silence was deafening. All you want is an audience.

Bernard Beekes, Harare, Zimbabwe

How much do bishops get paid? Let us see a pay scale. They should be able to manage on much less if they dump the variety of coloured clothes they wear. All they do anyway is tell lies to people too illiterate to argue. We can manage quite nicely without any bishops or religion.

m wilson, bidache, france

Why use scripture to argue for/against 'make poverty history'? Isnt our shared humanity enough reason to do so? Current global credit crunch should not be used as an excuse because third world poverty in the last 20yrs resulted from global financial institutions' experiments in economic adjustments.

okame, london, UK

Why use scripture to argue for/against 'make poverty history'? Isnt our shared humanity enough justification? Dont use current global credit crunch as excuse because third world poverty of the last 20yrs also resulted from global financial institutions' reckless experiments in economic adjustments.

okame, london, UK

In 1453 the Flemings arrived in Manchester.The church allowed them to take wood from their forests to make looms.Thus began the industrial revolution.Poor farmers wove cloth, merchants sold it, owners of pack animals transported it. We did not begin with a silver spoon,or a government grant.

ged, manchester,

You would think that Christianity is a social service for the poor, rather than a religion focused on redemption from sin and the Glory of God.

The debates are concerned with what is sin, and how best to glorify God. If you get that wrong the poor will be poorer.

Greg Lorriman, Leatherhead, UK

Stop and take a look at the governments of the people who
are starving.
Where is the call for population control?
How many of the poverty pockets breed themselves into
that situation?
Who talks about that?

Jerry Scroggin, Phoenix, Arizona/USA

Please shout this message a bit louder! We need the rest of them to hear you.

In reply to John Burke, wealth is not zero sum. The poor have got richer but by nowhere as much as the rich. Hence poverty has dropped, though the poor should gain more. I sense somewhere a bit of the politics of envy.

Nathan James, Liverpool, UK

Judas said "she should have sold it and given the money to the poor"John said he did not say this because he loved the poor but because he carried the bag"The greatest poverty is the spiritual one."Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proccedeth from the mouth of God."

G Blezard, London, uk

There is a very good reason why the poor are dying in poverty, 5% of the citizens of the US and the UK have 50% of the wealth and they are going to carry it into Hell with them! For the Super-rich
poverty doesn't exist, it is just as non-existent as their conscience.

John Burke, Santa Cruz, CA

I could not agree with you more. In religion as in ethics it not what you say that counts it is what you do that really matters...Great story.

Robert Tilford, McCracken , USA, Kansas

Well of course John but it's not an either/or. In fact, Christian's love and serve the poor based on scripture. The current debates are about how scripture should define Christian life. Should we ignore scripture + reject how it has always been read? If so maybe we should reinterpret Matthew 25 too?

Ben, Chicago, USA