HOLY SEE AT FAO: WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

Vatican City, 19 June 2013 (VIS) – Today, Archbishop Luigi Travaglino, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations Organisations for Food and Agriculture (FAO, IFAD, and WFP), spoke at the 38th session of the FAO Conference held in Rome from 15-22 June.

In his address, Archbishop Travaglino emphasized that the Delegation from the Holy See wanted to reiterate its appreciation of the FAO's actions in favour of development and guaranteeing food security, as well as to reaffirm its availability to sustain this work, which concerns a fundamental aspect of personal and communal life.

The prelate recalled that, in this particularly difficult moment for the global economy, the Delegation from the Holy See encourages all the parties concerned to further the implementation of the Organisation's programmes carried out in the various areas of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, especially in view of the objective of food security, which has become indispensable. It is therefore necessary to move from words to deeds, making the necessary resources available to the FAO.

At the same time, referring to the planning for the next biennium, he said that the Delegation from the Holy See hopes for a broadening of the forms of support to the artisanal activities and practices that constitute the basic economic reality for the majority of developing countries, which have in their monocultures, forest resources, exploitation of marine resources, or agricultural activities, an essential reference—unfortunately often the sole reference—for their economies and their food supply.

He also pointed out that the Holy See's reference to the sustainability of food supply systems cannot be limited to manufacturing techniques, the conservation of resources, or the exchange of information. “It appears to us that the approach of sustainability that is linked to the human person can help give meaning to the responsibility that each of us has towards future generations.”