Luxury, waste are unacceptable when hunger is on the rise, says pope

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Nov 17, 2009, 7:00:35 PM11/17/09

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By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) -- Opulence and waste are unacceptable especially when hunger --
the cruelest form of poverty -- continues to rise, Pope Benedict XVI told
world leaders at a summit on food security.

The pope condemned the greed that fuels speculation on food prices, aid that
debilitates agricultural production, and excessive exploitation of the
earth's resources.

Pope Benedict spoke Nov. 16 during the opening session of the United
Nations' World Summit on Food Security.

The Nov. 16-18 conference, hosted by the U.N. Food and Agriculture
Organization in Rome, brought together leaders and delegates from countries
around the world to find concrete solutions to end the scourge of hunger and
malnutrition and find ways to stabilize food prices.

According to the FAO, more than 1 billion people are undernourished and one
child dies every six seconds because of malnutrition.

"Hunger is the most cruel and concrete sign of poverty," the pope said in
his address to summit leaders. "Opulence and waste are no longer acceptable
when the tragedy of hunger is assuming ever greater proportions."

"Norms, legislation, development plans and investments are not enough,
however; what is needed is a change in the lifestyles of individuals and
communities, in habits of consumption and in perceptions of what is
genuinely needed," Pope Benedict said.

The transcendental worth of every human being must be recognized if there is
to be "the conversion of heart that underpins the commitment to eradicate
deprivation, hunger and poverty in all their forms," he said.

The pope said the growing number of hungry people in the world is not
directly linked to an increase in world population.

There is enough food to feed the world, he said, adding that food shortages
are caused by the rising price of foodstuffs, "the reduction in economic
resources available to the poorest peoples and their limited access to
markets and to food."

"The lamentable destruction of foodstuffs for economic gain" is more proof
that "there is no cause-and-effect relationship between population growth
and hunger," he said.

Pope Benedict called for greater action in creating "a network of economic
institutions capable of guaranteeing regular access to sufficient food and
water."

Countries must "oppose those forms of aid that do grave damage to the
agricultural sector, those approaches to food production that are geared
solely towards consumption and lack a wider perspective, and especially
greed, which causes speculation to rear its head even in the marketing of
cereals, as if food were to be treated just like any other commodity," he
said.

Not enough is being done to lift people out of poverty because some people
exhibit "resigned regret, if not downright indifference" to the plight of
others and tend to believe hunger is just part and parcel of life in certain
countries, he said.

Everyone has a moral responsibility to show solidarity toward the rest of
the human family and concretely meet the needs of others "so as to favor the
genuine sharing of goods, founded on love."

The fundamental right to life depends on the right to sufficient, healthy
and nutritious food and safe drinking water, he said.

At the end of his address, the pope -- speaking in Arabic, Chinese, Russia,
English, French and Spanish -- thanked the FAO and its member states for
their efforts "to ensure that all people are given their daily bread."

END
Luxury, waste are unacceptable when hunger is on the rise, says pope