In a message marking World Food Day, Pope Francis said success in eradicating hunger will require acts of love and solidarity. Source: CNS
“This requires, first of all, that we see others as our brothers and sisters, as members of the same human family, whose sufferings and needs affect us all,” the Pope said in a message on Friday to a ceremony in Rome ahead of yesterday’s United Nations celebration of World Food Day.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s latest estimate puts the global hunger figure for 2021 at between 702 million and 828 million people.
“These estimates imply that, since 2015, the increase in the number of undernourished people in the world has practically eroded all progress that had been made during the preceding decade, bringing the world back to hunger levels that prevailed in 2005,” the organisation said.
The theme chosen for the 2022 World Food Day was “Leave no one behind,” and official events looked at ways to ensure that by promoting “better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life.”
“Certainly, it will not be possible to face the numerous crises affecting humanity if we do not work and walk together, leaving no one behind,” the Pope wrote in his message.
Caritas Internationalis, the umbrella organisation for national Catholic charities, also issued a statement marking World Food Day.
Aloysius John, secretary-general of Caritas Internationalis, called on the international community to support “new forms of small-scale agriculture, create social food cooperatives, and enable small-scale farmers to cultivate their land. This means a change in agricultural development projects, with a focus on watershed management and access to sustainable agricultural materials.”
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Love, solidarity must be part of plan to end hunger, pope says (CNS)
