San Juan, September 1 (RHC)-- Puerto Rico’s top religious leaders are calling on the Federal Reserve to restructure the territory’s $72 billion debt in order to avoid dramatic austerity measures. 

In August, Puerto Rico failed to make a $58 million debt payment, pushing the territory into default.  Hedge funds that are heavily invested in Puerto Rico have called on the territory to raise taxes and slash funding for education, even though Puerto Rico has already closed almost 100 schools in 2015 alone. 

On Monday, 18 top religious leaders cited the Biblical notion of jubilee to call for debt relief.  They also threw their support behind a bill before Congress that would allow Puerto Rico to declare a limited bankruptcy, a move currently permitted only for cities and municipalities inside U.S. states.