Italy Pope sees "collective failure" in the fight against hunger
Pope Leo XIV has urged the global community to fight hunger more resolutely.
16.10.2025, 16:14
SDA
During a visit to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, the head of the Catholic Church pointed out that despite technological progress and higher life expectancy, more than 670 million people in many countries were suffering from hunger. He held an "economy without a soul" partly responsible for this. At the same time, Leo criticized the fact that the denial of food was increasingly being used as a "weapon of war" again.
The Pope made his comments in a speech to the UN organization, which is based in Rome. The famine of so many people is "no coincidence, but a clear sign of a prevailing indifference, an economy without a soul, a questionable development model and an unjust and unsustainable system of resource distribution". There are currently almost 8.2 billion people living in the world.
Leo speaks of "collective failure"
Leo spoke to representatives from more than 150 countries of "collective failure". In view of technological progress, it is a "historical debt" to allow millions of people to suffer and die. For the Pope, who has been in office since May, it was his first appearance before a United Nations organization. The USA and other countries have cut their funding for the FAO in recent months.
The head of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide also criticized the fact that access to food is being deliberately denied to the population in various current conflicts. International humanitarian law prohibits, without exception, attacks on civilians and goods that are essential for the survival of the population. "We cannot go on like this," said Leo. A "remedy must be found for this scandal".
