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“There is an urgent need to address hunger and malnutrition while also tackling the structural causes that sustain them.”
Pope Leo XIV made the remarks during a visit to the headquarters of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome on Monday 22 June.
The pontiff thanked the international organisation for its work in “saving lives in emergency situations and providing food assistance amid conflicts and natural disasters”.
Addressing WFP staff, he said their work is “deeply in tune with the mission of the Catholic Church”, which seeks to “defend human dignity and promote fraternity”.
“Distorted ideologies and incomprehensible political decisions”
In his address, Pope Leo XIV went on to stress that aid schemes and development projects are often hampered by “involved and incomprehensible political decisions, skewed ideological visions and impenetrable customs barriers”, while “weaponry is not”.
As a result, the pontiff pointed out that in today’s world, “conflicts are fed more readily than people are nourished”. This reflects not only operational shortcomings, he said, but also “a fundamental imbalance in political and moral priorities”.
“Today, crises are multiplying: from conflict to hunger, from economic instability to climate change”
As for hunger, according to Leo XIV it is not only a humanitarian concern, but a factor capable of “eroding social cohesion, heightening the risk of conflict and fuelling forced migration”.
All this “undermines the ability of states and societies to build resilient institutions, ensure effective education and promote sustainable economic development”. In this sense, humanitarian support also represents, according to the pontiff, a factor of international stability.
‘Food, water and health care cannot be subordinated to markets or geopolitical interests’
The Pope went on to recall that crises today have “evolved from isolated events into persistent realities”, as in the case of “prolonged conflicts”, “chronic food insecurity”, “economic volatility” and “growing climate vulnerabilities”.
And he reiterated that we must “resist the commodification of basic human needs”.
“Food, water and health care cannot be subordinated to markets or geopolitical interests,” he said.
At the end of his speech, those present gave the Pope prolonged applause.