By Devin Watkins
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization is holding the 44th Session of the FAO Conference in Rome from Jun 28 to Jul 4.
Pope Leo XIV sent a message to participants, as the FAO marked its 80th anniversary of its founding to combat food insecurity and malnutrition.
In his message, the Pope said the Church supports all efforts to end the “scandal of global hunger,” recalling Jesus’ care to feed the crowds who had come to hear Him speak.
“We realize that the true miracle accomplished by Christ was to show that the key to defeating hunger lies more in sharing than in greedily hoarding,” he said.
Many people, he lamented, still suffer cruelly and yearn for their needs to be met, as hunger and malnutrition continue despite the excess production in certain parts of the world.
“We are now witnessing, with deep sorrow, the inhumane use of hunger as a weapon of war,” said the Pope. “Starving civilian populations is a very cheap way to wage war.”
Most conflicts are now fought by armed civilian groups instead of regular armies, he added, pointing out that tactics like burning crops and blocking humanitarian aid weigh heavily on defenseless civilians.
When conflict breaks out, farmers are unable to sell their produce and inflation skyrockets, leading millions of people to suffer from famine and food insecurity.
Pope Leo called for the international community to take action and set clear boundaries so that perpetrators are held accountable.
“Political crises, armed conflicts, and economic disruptions play a central role in worsening the food crisis,” he said. “They hinder humanitarian aid, undermine local agricultural production, and deprive people not only of access to food, but also of the right to live a life of dignity and opportunity.”
Selfishness and indifference, added the Pope, must be set aside on behalf of dialogue and mutual understanding, so that peace and stability allow societies to build resilient agrifood systems.
At the same time, climate change and food systems are closely intertwined, meaning mistreatment of one deeply impacts the other.
“The social injustice caused by natural disasters and biodiversity loss,” he said, “must be reversed to achieve a just ecological transition, one that places both the environment and people at the center.”
He called for ecosystems to be protected through coordinated climate action in a spirit of solidarity, since our world’s resources must be employed so that everyone is guaranteed food security and nutritious diets.
Pope Leo XIV lamented that financial resources and innovative technologies are being diverted to arms production and weapons trade.
“As a result, questionable ideologies are being promoted, while human relationships grow cold, corroding communion and driving away fraternity and social friendship.”
In conclusion, Pope Leo invited everyone to be “artisans of peace, working for the common good” by setting aside sterile rhetoric and engaging with the issue of hunger with firm political will.
“To achieve this noble goal,” he said, “I wish to assure you that the Holy See will always serve the cause of harmony among peoples and will not grow weary of contributing to the common good of the family of nations, especially with regard to those most afflicted and those who suffer from hunger and thirst.” – Vatican News
