CARDINAL SODANO CONSIGNS PAPAL MESSAGE TO FAO MEETING

VATICAN CITY, NOV 3, 2001 (VIS) - Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state, today brought greetings and a Message from Pope John Paul to the 31st conference of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), currently underway in Rome. After reading the Pope's Message, he gave it to FAO Director General, Jacques Diouf.

In the Message, written in French, the Holy Father says: "The first pages of the Bible describe the luxuriant abundance of the created world and they affirm that everything that man could need has been given to him in order to lead a life that is worthy of a creature made in the image and likeness of God. It is not therefore possible that in the world millions of persons are malnourished or starving. The earth is able to give them what they need, therefore the cause of the lack of food must be sought elsewhere."

"Your conference," the Message states, "wants to commit itself to being a sign of hope for the world, showing that there are people determined to practice a responsible and inventive administration, aimed at guaranteeing 'food security' for every member of the human family. Such determination is based on the recognition of the fact that every human being has the inviolable right to have correct nourishment and that all men, especially those in positions of leadership, consequently have the duty to assure that this right is respected."

John Paul II writes: "Among the initiatives I would especially like to encourage is the decision made by the richest nations to dedicate part of their gross national product to the development of the poorest countries and to make every possible effort to reduce the weight of their external debt."

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