Social justice 17/06/29 Pope calls on world not to be blind to hunger - Hunger caused by indifference and selfishness, pontiff tells UN Food and Agriculture Organiza

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Pope calls on world not to be blind to hunger

Hunger caused by indifference and selfishness, pontiff tells UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Pope Francis celebrates Mass on the solemnity of the feast of Sts Peter and Paul June 29 in St Peter's Square at the Vatican. (Photo by Alberto Pizzoli/AFP)

July 4, 2017

The international community must not remain resigned to the plight of those suffering hunger and malnutrition, which is often caused by indifference and selfishness, Pope Francis said.

In a message to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization conference July 3, the pope said wars, terrorism and forced displacements are not "inevitable but rather the consequence of concrete decisions" that have led to the lack of food and adequate nutrition to the helpless.

"We are dealing with a complex mechanism that mainly burdens the most vulnerable, who are not only excluded from the processes of production, but frequently obliged to leave their lands in search of refuge and hope," the pope said in the message read to the conference by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

In his message, the pope expressed the Holy See's desire to help the international community "promote not mere progress or development goals in theory, but rather the actual elimination of hunger and malnutrition."

"All of us realize that the intention to provide everyone with his or her daily bread is not enough. Rather, there is a need to recognize that all have a right to it and they must, therefore, benefit from it," he said.

He also said that unfulfilled proposals to combat malnutrition were "largely dependent on the lack of a culture of solidarity."

The international community's development goals, he added, must acknowledge "that the right of every person to be free of poverty and hunger depends on the duty of the entire human family to provide practical assistance to those in need."

"Since the goods that God the creator has entrusted to us are meant for all, there is an urgent need for solidarity to be the criterion inspiring all forms of cooperation in international relations," he said.

Full Story: Pope: Hunger caused by ‘indifference of many, selfishness of a few’

Source: Catholic News Service

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