VATICAN CITY, FEB 19, 2003 (VIS) - Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state, today read a Message from Pope John Paul to Lennart Bage, the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) at the meeting in Rome celebrating IFAD's 25th anniversary. In attendance were President Ciampi of Italy, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, and representatives of governments and international organizations.
The Pope lauded the work of IFAD, noting that its statues "outline its structure and guide its action, giving it the specific duty to furnish financial resources to 'the poorest of the poor' for the agricultural development of those countries with severe food shortages."
He said that the "solidarity shown to IFAD in the fight against rural poverty has found a concrete way to achieve food security for the poor. ... This is a positive approach at a time when serious concerns persist in diverse areas of the world, considered at high risk nutritionally."
"Our thoughts," said the Pope's Message, "turn to the victims of conflicts and serious violations of basic rights, to the reality of refugees and evacuees, to those affected by sickness and epidemics. These are all situations that threaten orderly coexistence among persons and communities and place human life at grave risk."
Expressing solidarity with the work of IFAD and similar organizations, he nonetheless exhorted his audience to always place "the human person and his primary needs" at the foundation and center of international action.
"Today we see the opposition of interests and the desire to prevail, whose consequences are the abandonment of negotiations and a impetus towards isolation. ... We cannot ignore the sad resignation that seems to have extinguished the desire to live of entire populations that hunger and malnutrition have placed at the margins of the community of nations, far from living conditions that are really respectful of human dignity."
MESS;IFAD; HUNGER;...;SODANO;VIS;20030219;Word: 320;
No comments:
Post a Comment