Action to alleviate hunger should start in our own homes: Abp Nichols
London, 08 June 2013: Tens of thousands of people including millionaire Microsoft
co-founder Bill Gates, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and a host of
other well-known names are leading a campaign in London’s Hyde Park on Saturday to
help end global hunger. The ‘Enough food for everyone IF..’ campaign is calling
on leaders of the world’s wealthiest G8 nations to take concrete steps to stamp out
hunger and child malnutrition. Over 200 charities and organizations are taking part
in the event, which hopes to be the largest mobilization against inequality since
the ‘Make Poverty History’ march in Edinburgh in 2005.
Ahead of the rally,
thousands of Christian campaigners are taking part in an ecumenical prayer service
in Westminster Central Hall, where Archbishop Vincent Nichols spoke on the specific
vision that the Gospel of Christ brings to the fight against poverty and injustice. “When
we acknowledge our own poverty before God…then we begin to see the materially poor
as our brothers and sisters and not simply as distant people who might be deserving
of my charity..” In his homily Archbishop Nichols stressed there is no shortage
of food for the hungry - IF we are all willing to make changes and pay the costs for
a fairer distribution of goods and resources. Earlier on the day, Archbishop Nichols
spoke with the Vatican Radio and when asked him about the importance of the Christian
presence at this high profile event he said:
“It’s important for two reasons:
firstly because this is a campaign that brings together all different voices concerned
about hunger in the world and secondly, because the Christian voice makes its own
distinctive contribution, not just about the depth of motivation, but also through
the vision, summed up in Pope Francis’ phrase that ‘in the poor we touch the flesh
of Christ’… The goals (of the campaign) can be used to bring support to British
government which has already laid out its strategy for this G8 summit and some of
that does stand in the same street as the goals of the campaign: for example……much
greater transparency in actions of governments and corporations especially those extracting
natural resources from countries… Almost half of the food produced in the UK, in
the USA or in Europe is wasted at some point in the food chain – even half of that
waste would feed the hungry of the world…. It does mean that action to alleviate hunger
in the world should start in our own homes…”Source: VR Eng