Pope calls for ethics, solidarity in fight against hunger

(July 01, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday called for moral principles and solidarity in the fight against hunger and malnutrition in the world and appealed especially for the right to food for children and the rural family. “Poverty, underdevelopment and hunger are often the results of selfish attitudes that begin in the heart of man and are manifested in social behaviour, in business transactions, market conditions and in the lack of access to food…”, the Pope told the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, that is entrusted with the fight against hunger, malnutrition and poverty in the world. Some 400 participants in FAO’s 37th Session, June 12- July 2, paid a visit to Pope Benedict in the Vatican. At a time of critically high food prices and malnutrition across the world, the Pope said “the first step is to liberate millions of men, women and children who lack their daily bread.” He blamed the food crisis on the lack of norms and moral principles whose sole aim, he said, is profit, which makes food an object of speculation, subject to market trends. “Food is a condition that affects the fundamental right to life,” the Pope stressed and urged that solidarity be an essential criterion of every policy and strategy in dealing with price instability and rise. The Holy Father particularly remembered millions of children who, he said, are the first victims of this tragedy, who are condemned to premature death, to physical and psychological underdevelopment or subject to various forms of exploitation just to the minimum nourishment. The Pope urged for attention to the younger generations in order to combat neglect of rural and agricultural work. He also called for support to the rural family in its role to achieve stable food security.