Pope Leo made an urgent appeal to world leaders to end hunger in the world, reports „Reuters“, reports News.bg.
In a speech to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, he defined the fact that millions of people continue to suffer from malnutrition as „ethical deviation and collective failure“.
„At a time when science has extended human life, allowing millions to live - and die - stricken by hunger is a historic crime“, Leo said.
The pope quoted UN data, according to which about 673 million people do not receive enough food every day, and stressed that this is “a sign of the prevailing callousness and unfair system of resource distribution“.
The Catholic pontiff also condemned the use of hunger as a weapon in military conflicts, without naming specific countries.
“International humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilians and their means of survival. But we seem to have forgotten this, as we witness the re-use of food as a weapon," he warned.
Leo, the first pope from the United States who spent years as a missionary in Peru, has made the fight against poverty and hunger the focus of his five-month pontificate.
He spoke to representatives of 125 delegations gathered to mark the 80th anniversary of the FAO, and concluded his speech with a plea for humanity:
“We cannot continue like this. Hunger is not inevitable - it is our common shame.“