(Vatican Radio) In a video message released Monday evening, Pope Francis put his full
support behind a global campaign, launched by Caritas Internationalis, which seeks
to end world hunger by 2025. The Pope said the work of Caritas, present in 200 countries,
"is at the heart of the mission of the Church." Its attention, he said, is towards
all those "who suffer because of the scandal of hunger, those with whom the Lord identified
when he said, ‘I was hungry and you gave me something to eat’."
The Pope underlined
that nearly one billion people still suffer from hunger worldwide today."We cannot
look the other way and pretend this does not exist," he said.
Read the
full text of Pope Francis’ appeal: Message from Pope Francis for the launch
of One Human Family, Food for All Dear brothers and dear sisters,
Today,
I am happy to announce to you the launch of a campaign against global hunger by our
very own Caritas Internationalis and to tell you that I intend to give my full support.
This confederation, together with its 164 member organisations works in 200 countries
and territories around the world and its work is at the heart of the mission of the
Church and of Her attention towards all those who suffer because of the scandal of
hunger, those with whom the Lord identified when he said, “I was hungry and you gave
me something to eat”.
When the Apostles said to Jesus that the people who
had come to listen to his words were hungry, He invited them to go and look for food.
Being poor themselves, all they found were five loaves and two fish. But with the
grace of God, they managed to feed a multitude of people, even managing to collect
what was left over and avoiding that it went to waste.
We are in front of a
global scandal of around one billion – one billion people who still suffer from hunger
today. We cannot look the other way and pretend this does not exist. The food available
in the world is enough to feed everyone. The parable of the multiplication of the
loaves and fish teaches us exactly this: that if there is the will, what we have never
ends. On the contrary, it abounds and does not get wasted.
Therefore, dear
brothers and sisters, I invite you to make space in your heart for this emergency
of respecting the God-given rights of everyone to have access to adequate food. We
share what we have in Christian charity with those who face numerous obstacles to
satisfy such a basic need. At the same time we promote an authentic cooperation with
the poor so that through the fruits of their and our work they can live a dignified
life.
I invite all of the institutions of the world, the Church, each of us,
as one single human family, to give a voice to all of those who suffer silently from
hunger, so that this voice becomes a roar which can shake the world.
This campaign
is also an invitation to all of us to become more conscious in our food choices, which
often lead to waste and a poor use of the resources available to us. It is also a
reminder to stop thinking that our daily actions do not have an impact on the lives
of those who suffer from hunger first-hand.
I ask you from the bottom of my
heart to support our Caritas organisations in this noble campaign where they will
act as one human family to ensure food for all. Let us pray that the Lord gives
us the grace to envisage a world in which no one must ever again die of hunger. And
asking for this grace, I give you my blessing.