Vatican City, Jun 27, 2019 / 06:07 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis said Thursday that world hunger must be addressed by all nations and encouraged the cooperation of individuals, governments, and businesses.
The pope spoke at the 41st General Conference of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), based in Rome.
Among the estimated 500 participants, those in attendance included delegates from different nations, including outgoing FAO director general, José Graziano da Silva, and his successor, Qu Dongyu.
In his speech, the pope highlighted the two goals of the organization’s 2030 agenda – “no poverty” and “zero hunger.”
He said that while there have been improvements in global access to food and drinkable water in recent decades, there are still many challenges to face. To completely tackle world hunger, the pope said, the roots of the problem must be addressed.
“The origin of this tragedy lies above all in a failure of compassion, the lack of interest on the part of many and a scant social and political will to honour international obligations,” Francis said.
He stressed that the issue of food security involves every nation, not just those in poverty. Environmental instability continues to affect food quantity in many areas, he noted, while some nations are also affected by high migration rates.
“The increased numbers of refugees throughout the world in recent years has shown us that one country’s problem is a problem of the entire human family,” he said.
The pope urged those present to reduce food and water waste. He challenged them to invest in educational programs, which spread awareness and inspire greater social responsibility. He also encouraged greater agricultural development in vulnerable regions, through the advancement of technology and solidarity policies.
“FAO and other international organizations are appropriate actors to coordinate necessary and decisive measures aimed at ensuring that all, particularly the poorest, have the access to basic goods,” he said.
“Joint efforts by all will realize the goals and commitments already undertaken, through programmes and policies capable of helping local populations to grow in a sense of responsibility for their countries, communities and, ultimately, their own lives.”
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Pope Francis meets with executives and employees of the Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale, Italy’s main welfare agency, April 3, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Apr 3, 2023 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has urged Italy’s main welfare agency not to forget the contribution of foreign workers.
“It should not be forgotten that foreign workers who do not yet have Italian citizenship also contribute to the pension system,” the pope said in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on April 3.
“It would be a good sign to be able to express gratitude to them for what they do,” he said. “Social security also reminds us that ‘everything is connected’ and that we are interdependent on each other.”
Francis met 400 employees of the Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale, better known as INPS, to mark the institution’s 125th anniversary.
INPS is the main welfare agency of the Italian public pension system. It serves more than 42 million people, providing retirement pensions and other state welfare such as social security, maternity leave, disability benefits, and workers’ compensation.
“Social life stands because of supportive community networks,” Pope Francis said. “The common good passes through the daily work of millions of people who share the principle of the bond of solidarity among workers.”
He acknowledged Italy’s aging population as he urged the agency to promote dignified, stable work and to fight illegal labor.
The pope appealed to them “to guard a welfare system that is up to the challenges of societies that, like Italy’s, are growing older and older.”
Pope Francis meets with executives and employees of the Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale, Italy’s main welfare agency, April 3, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media
Dignified work “is always ‘free, creative, participatory, and supportive,’” he said, quoting the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.
“Welfare is a form of participation in one’s own and others’ well-being,” he continued. “Setting aside economic resources and ensuring access to health care are valuable assets that can hold together the different seasons of life.”
INPS Director General Vincenzo Caridi said Monday’s meeting was a chance to listen closely to Pope Francis “at a time when the sphere of social work and closeness to the least is (in continuity with the great pontificates that have confronted the challenge of modernity) the cornerstone of his message.”
Caridi said “the tree of the welfare state is nourished by many cultural roots, among them certainly the social doctrine of the Church. His is an invitation, a spur which gives strength to all employees of the Institute — believers and nonbelievers alike — who are called to renew the spirit of service with which they carry out their daily commitment.”
In his speech, Pope Francis used two stories from the Bible to illustrate both a good and a bad model of welfare.
A “bad welfare,” the pope said, is like the greedy man in the parable from the Gospel of St. Luke who builds a bigger warehouse to hold all of his crops, planning to rest, eat, drink, and enjoy himself, “but God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’”
“Those who accumulate only for themselves end up deluding themselves,” Francis said.
An example of “good welfare,” instead, is that of the patriarch Joseph, he said.
As governor of Egypt, Joseph ordered that some grain be put aside from the abundance in order to be prepared for the future, when there may be a period of famine.
“Joseph not only trusts in God’s providence and recognizes it, but [he also] shows foresight for the good of the people,” Francis explained. “He knows how to look forward; he envisions good even when evil seems to prevail; he cares for the people entrusted to him. And this is your vocation: taking care of people in the future.”
Pope Francis and Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. / Mazur/cbcew.org.uk/ Олег Чупа via Wikimedia (GFDL).
Rome Newsroom, Nov 7, 2022 / 08:39 am (CNA).
The leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Ch… […]
Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Vatican City, Sep 18, 2024 / 08:54 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Wednesday said the Catholic Church is “more alive” outside of Europe as he reflected back on his recent apostolic journey to Southeast Asia.
“A first reflection that comes spontaneously after this trip is that in thinking about the Church we are still too Eurocentric, or, as they say, ‘Western,’” the pope said in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 18.
“But in reality, the Church is much bigger, much bigger than Rome and Europe … and may I say much more alive in these countries,” he added.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
In his first general audience since returning from the longest international trip of his pontificate, the pope expressed gratitude to God for his experiences in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore Sept. 2–13.
“I thank the Lord who allowed me to do as an elderly pope what I would have liked to do as a young Jesuit,” Francis said.
The pope, who turns 88 in December, expressed his enthusiasm for the “missionary, outgoing Church” he encountered on his visit to the four island nations in Asia and Oceania.
The pope recalled his visit to the grounds of the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, where he signed a joint declaration with Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar condemning religious-based violence and promoting religious harmony.
“There, I saw that fraternity is the future, it is the answer to anti-civilization, to the diabolical plots of hatred, war, and also sectarianism,” he said.
Pope Francis arrives at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Pope Francis commented that the missionaries and catechists were the “protagonists” of his visit to Papua New Guinea, where the pope was welcomed by the beating drums of some of the country’s Indigenous tribes who have accepted the Catholic faith.
“I rejoiced to be able to stay a while with the missionaries and catechists of today; and I was moved to listen to the young people’s songs and music: In them, I saw a new future, without tribal violence, without dependency, without economic or ideological colonialism; a future of fraternity and care for the wondrous natural environment,” Francis said.
The pope added that he has “a beautiful memory” from traveling to the remote coastal town of Vanimo, a jungle outpost where he said Argentine missionaries “go into the jungle in search of the most hidden tribes.”
Pope Francis said that he experienced the “air of springtime” in East Timor, a small Catholic country that gained its independence from Indonesia in 2002.
He praised the Catholic country for its many large families and many religious vocations.
“I will never forget the smiles of the children,” he said. “In East Timor, I saw the youthfulness of the Church: families, children, young people, many seminarians and aspirants to consecrated life.”
Frequently throughout his trip, Pope Francis commended the high birth rates found not only in East Timor but also in Indonesia, saying that such high fertility rates should be an example for other countries around the world.
On his return flight to Rome, the pope praised East Timor’s “culture of life,” adding that wealthier countries, including Singapore, could learn from the small country that “children are the future.”
Looking back on his final stop in Singapore, the pope remarked that the modern city-state was very different from other countries he visited during his apostolic journey.
“Even in wealthy Singapore there are the ‘little ones,’ who follow the Gospel and become salt and light, witnesses to a hope greater than what economic gains can guarantee,” he added.
Pope Francis reflected on his journey to the four tropical islands on a cloudy fall morning in Rome. The pope was quite animated as he spoke about his travels, frequently making extra comments off the cuff to the crowd.
He underlined to the crowd that an “apostolic journey” is much different than tourism because “it is a journey to bring the Word of God, to make the Lord known, and also to know the soul of the people.”
At the end of the audience, the pope offered a prayer for the victims of the recent severe flooding in Europe and encouraged the local Catholic communities who are working to provide relief to the flooding caused by Storm Boris.
“In these days, heavy torrential rains have hit Central and Eastern Europe causing victims, missing persons, and extensive damage in Austria, Romania, Czech Republic, and Poland, who have to cope with tragic inconveniences caused by the floods. I assure everyone of my closeness, praying for those who have lost their lives and their families,” he said.
Pope Francis commented that there were many newly married couples who came to the general audience to receive his blessing for their marriages, with the Holy Father giving a shoutout to two Vatican employees who will be married in Vatican City this weekend.
The pope asked the Virgin Mary’s intercession for the newlyweds to have the grace “to accept work and daily crosses as opportunities for growth and purification of your love.”
Francis also prayed for the sick, elderly, and disabled present at the general audience.
“May Our Lady of Sorrows, whom we recalled a few days ago in the liturgy, help you, dear sick and elderly people, to grasp in suffering and difficulties the call to make of your existence a mission for the salvation of your brothers and sisters,” he said.
Hunger, particularly in Africa, is the result of political corruption and war. It is well-known that Aid to corrupt governments, far from helping those in need, ends up in the Swiss bank accounts of corrupt governments. What has happened in Zimbabwe and what is about to happen in South Africa are a prime example.
Hunger is partly man-made. There are people dying of hunger and there are others dying of over-eating.
Hunger, particularly in Africa, is the result of political corruption and war. It is well-known that Aid to corrupt governments, far from helping those in need, ends up in the Swiss bank accounts of corrupt governments. What has happened in Zimbabwe and what is about to happen in South Africa are a prime example.