POVERTY, HUNGER AND DISEASE DEMAND ACTION, NOT PARALYSIS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 18, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed the participants in the 30th conference of the Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organization, and, in his speech to them, paid tribute to the work of both FAO and of the United Nations "in promoting the well-being of the human family."

He highlighted the many ways that life today is "under assault," and indicated that what is needed is action, not "palliative approaches" by "people who are overcome by a kind of moral paralysis, believing that little or nothing can be done to address these great problems at their roots."

"As we survey the entire planet and the multitude of the human family," observed the Pope, we see that "millions of human beings are denied the most basic necessities of life - food, water, shelter. Diseases both old and new continue to affect countless lives. The scourge of violence and war is unceasing. The gap between rich and poor increases alarmingly. Scientific and technological progress is not always accompanied by attention to the moral and ethical values which alone can ensure its correct application for the genuine good of people today and tomorrow."

Underlining that "it is clear that ideologically motivated action is not the solution to hunger" or so many other issues, John Paul II said: "What is needed is the more profound and infinitely more creative power of hope, ... which entails a vision of the human person as created in the image and likeness of God." In this respect, he added, in the last part of this century "there is a growing sense of the human person's worth and dignity, and of the inviolable rights which flow from it. ... People are recognizing more and more that there are certain innate and inviolable rights which do not depend on any human authority." Without openness to these principles, he stated, "our vision of the world will be distorted ... and our efforts to relieve suffering ... doomed."

The Holy Father affirmed that, with a right sense of who man is, with the power of hope to help mankind overcome its problems, and "with the means available today, poverty, hunger and disease can no longer be regarded as either normal or inevitable."

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