ROME (Realist English). Pope Leo XIV visited the headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome on Thursday to mark World Food Day and the organization’s 80th anniversary, calling on the international community to confront what he described as a “moral wound that afflicts the entire human family” — hunger and malnutrition.
Addressing UN officials, diplomats, and humanitarian leaders, the Pope urged governments to move beyond rhetoric and take concrete action to ensure food security, equitable access to resources, and sustainable development.
“We cannot be content with proclaiming values; we must embody them,” he said. “Slogans do not lift people from misery. We must place the human person above profit.”
Hunger as a moral duty, not a political problem
Speaking alternately in Spanish and English, Pope Leo reminded the audience that the fight against hunger “is not only political or economic but a profoundly human and moral duty.”
“Whoever suffers from hunger is not a stranger,” he said. “He is my brother, and I must help him without delay.”
Eighty years after the FAO’s founding, over 673 million people still go hungry and 2.3 billion lack adequate nutrition, he noted — figures he called “not abstract numbers, but broken lives and mothers unable to feed their children.”
The Pontiff condemned “an economy without a soul” and called the persistence of hunger in a world of abundance a “collective moral failure.”
“Food must never be a weapon”
The Pope voiced grave concern over the use of starvation as a method of warfare, calling it a “cruel strategy that denies the right to life.” He lamented that the UN Security Council’s earlier consensus recognizing hunger as a war crime has “faded into silence.”
“Hunger is not humanity’s destiny but its downfall,” he warned. “It is not just a problem to be solved; it is a cry that rises to heaven.”
Water, women, and the duty of cooperation
Referring to this year’s World Food Day theme — “Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind” — Pope Leo said the slogan was a reminder that cooperation is a duty, not an ideal, in a world marked by conflict and indifference.
He praised women as “the silent architects of survival,” saying they are “the first to sow hope and the careful stewards of creation.” Recognizing their contribution, he added, is key to building “a more humane and lasting food system.”
A call for renewed multilateralism
Reaffirming the Holy See’s long-standing support for the FAO, the Pope appealed for revitalized international cooperation and dialogue, urging nations to ensure the voices of the poor are heard directly in decision-making.
He also named Ukraine, Gaza, Haiti, Afghanistan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Yemen, and South Sudan as places where hunger and violence demand urgent global response.
Concluding his address, the Pope invoked Jesus’ command, “Give them something to eat” (Mk 6:37), calling it a moral imperative for today’s leaders.
“Do not tire of asking God for the courage and the energy to work for a justice that will yield lasting results,” Pope Leo said. “You can always count on the solidarity of the Holy See and the entire Church, which stands ready to serve the poorest and most disadvantaged throughout the world.”
