Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) – On Friday 5 December in the Sala Clementina in the Vatican Pope John Paul II granted a special audience to participants 32nd Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. “Our meeting today allows me to express the appreciation of the Catholic Church for the important service which FAO renders to humanity – the Holy Father said -.Today this service is more urgently needed than ever. Hunger and malnutrition, aggravated by growing poverty, represent a grave threat to the peaceful coexistence of peoples and nations. By its efforts to combat the nutritional insecurity which affects vast areas of our world, FAO makes a significant contribution to the advancement of world peace.”
Considering the close relationship between hunger and peace, the Pope underlined that “it is clear that economic and political decisions and strategies must increasingly be guided by a commitment to global solidarity and respect for fundamental human rights, including the right to adequate nourishment. Human dignity itself is compromised wherever a narrow pragmatism detached from the objective demands of the moral law leads to decisions which benefit a fortunate few while ignoring the sufferings of large segments of the human family.”
Lastly the Pope called on all the different components of society, including religious confessions, to share commitment to solidarity, each according to their proper competence, in order to promote the good of humanity: “As in every family, concern must be shown above all to those who are disadvantaged and in need. The world may not remain deaf to the plea of those who demand the food they need in order to survive!”.
(S.L.) (Fides Service 6/12/2003; lines 23 – words 295)
