Vatican City, 20 November 2014 (VIS) –
This morning Pope Francis visited the headquarters of the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, on the occasion of the
second International Conference on Nutrition, taking place in Rome
from 19 to 21 November.
Upon arrival the Holy Father was
received by the director general of the FAO, Jose Graziano da Silva,
the adjunct director, Oleg Chestnov and Archbishop Luigi Travaglino,
Holy See Permanent Observer at the FAO.
The full text of the Pontiff's address,
delivered in the Plenary Hall, is published below:
“I am pleased and honoured to speak
here today, at this Second International Conference on Nutrition. I
wish to thank you, Mr. President, for your warm greeting and the
words of welcome addressed to me. I cordially greet the Director
General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Margaret Chan,
and the Director General of the FAO, Professor José Graziano da
Silva, and I rejoice in their decision to convene this conference of
representatives of States, international institutions, and
organisations of civil society, the world of agriculture and the
private sector, with the aim of studying together the forms of
intervention necessary in the fight against hunger and malnutrition,
as well as the changes that must be made to existing strategies. The
overall unity of purpose and of action, and above all the spirit of
brotherhood, can be decisive in finding appropriate solutions. The
Church, as you know, seeks always to be attentive and watchful
regarding the spiritual and material welfare of the people,
especially those who are marginalised or excluded, to ensure their
safety and dignity.
“The fates of nations are
intertwined, more than ever before; they are like the members of one
family who depend upon each other. However, we live in a time in
which the relations between nations are too often damaged by mutual
suspicion, that at times turns into forms of military and economic
aggression, undermining friendship between brothers and rejecting or
discarding what is already excluded. He who lacks his daily bread or
a decent job is well aware of this. This is a picture of today’s
world, in which it is necessary to recognise the limits of approaches
based on the sovereignty of each State, intended as absolute, and
national interest, frequently conditioned by small power groups. Your
working agenda for developing new standards and greater commitments
to feed the world shows this well. From this perspective, I hope
that, in the formulation of these commitments, the States are
inspired by the conviction that the right to food can only be ensured
if we care about the actual subject, that is, the person who suffers
the effects of hunger and malnutrition.
“Nowadays there is much talk of
rights, frequently neglecting duties; perhaps we have paid too little
heed to those who are hungry. It is also painful to see that the
struggle against hunger and malnutrition is hindered by “market
priorities”, the “primacy of profit”, which have reduced
foodstuffs to a commodity like any other, subject to speculation,
also of a financial nature. And while we speak of new rights, the
hungry remain, at the street corner, and ask to be recognised as
citizens, to receive a healthy diet. We ask for dignity, not for
charity.
“These criteria cannot remain in the
limbo of theory. Persons and peoples ask for justice to be put into
practice: not only in a legal sense, but also in terms of
contribution and distribution. Therefore, development plans and the
work of international organisations must take into consideration the
wish, so frequent among ordinary people, for respect for fundamental
human rights and, in this case, the rights of the hungry. When this
is achieved, then humanitarian intervention, emergency relief and
development operations – in their truest, fullest sense – will
attain greater momentum and bring the desired results.
“Interest in the production,
availability and accessibility of foodstuffs, climate change and
agricultural trade should certainly inspire rules and technical
measures, but the first concern must be the individual as a whole,
who lacks daily nourishment and has given up thinking about life,
family and social relationships, instead fighting for survival. St.
John Paul II, in the inauguration in this hall of the First
Conference on Nutrition in 1992, warned the international community
against the risk of the “paradox of plenty”, in which there is
food for everyone, but not everyone can eat, while waste, excessive
consumption and the use of food for other purposes is visible before
our very eyes. Unfortunately, this “paradox” remains relevant.
There are few subjects about which we find as many fallacies as those
related to hunger; few topics as likely to be manipulated by data,
statistics, the demands of national security, corruption, or futile
lamentation about the economic crisis. This is the first challenge to
be overcome.
“The second challenge to be faced is
the lack of solidarity; we suspect that subconsciously we would like
to remove this word from the dictionary. Our societies are
characterised by growing individualism and division: this ends up
depriving the weakest of a decent life, and provokes revolts against
institutions. When there is a lack of solidarity in a country, the
effects are felt throughout the world. Indeed, solidarity is the
attitude that makes people capable of reaching our to others and
basing their mutual relations on this sense of brotherhood that
overcomes differences and limits, and inspires us to seek the common
good together.
“Human beings, as they become aware
of being partly responsible for the plan of creation, become capable
of mutual respect, instead of fighting between themselves, damaging
and impoverishing the planet. States, too, understood as a community
of persons and peoples, are required to act concertedly, to be
willing to help each other through the principles and norms offered
by international law. A source of inspiration is natural law,
inscribed in the human heart, that speaks a language that everyone
can understand: love, justice, peace, elements that are inseparable
from each other. Like people, States and international institutions
are called to welcome and nurture these values – love, justice,
peace – and this must be done with a spirit of dialogue and mutual
listening. In this way, the aim of feeding the human family becomes
feasible.
“Every woman, man, child and elderly
person everywhere should be able to count on these guarantees. It is
the duty of every State that cares for the wellbeing of its citizens
to subscribe to them unreservedly, and to take the necessary steps to
ensure their implementation. This requires perseverance and support.
The Catholic Church also offers her contribution in this field
through constant attention to the life of the poor in all parts of
the world; along the same lines, the Holy See is actively involved in
international organisations and through numerous documents and
statements. In this way, it contributes to identifying and assuming
the criteria to be met in order to develop an equitable international
system. These are criteria that, on the ethical plane, are based on
the pillars of truth, freedom, justice and solidarity; at the same
time, in the legal field, these same criteria include the
relationship between rights and food, and the right to life and a
dignified existence, the right to be protected by law, not always
close to the reality of those who suffer from hunger, and the moral
obligation to share the economic wealth of the world.
“If we believe in the principle of
the unity of the human family, based on the common paternity of God
the Creator, and in the fraternity of human beings, no form of
political or economic pressure that exploits the availability of
foodstuffs can be considered acceptable. Political and economic
pressure: here I think of our sister and mother, Earth, our planet,
and of whether we are free of political and economic pressure and
able to care for her, to avoid her destruction. We have two
conferences ahead of us, in Perù and France, which pose the
challenge to us of caring for our planet. I remember a phrase that I
heard from an elderly man many years ago: God always forgives … our
misdemeanours, our abuse, God always forgives; men forgive at times;
but the Earth never forgives. We must care for our sister the Earth,
our Mother Earth, so that she does not respond with destruction. But,
above all, no system of discrimination, de facto or de jure, linked
to the capacity of access to the market of foodstuffs, must be taken
as a model for international efforts that aim to eliminate hunger.
“By sharing these reflections with
you, I ask that the Almighty, God rich in mercy, bless all those who,
with different responsibilities, place themselves at the service of
those who experience hunger and who assist them with concrete
gestures of closeness. I also pray that the international community
might hear the call of this Conference and consider it an expression
of the common conscience of humanity: feed the hungry, save life on
the planet. Thank you”.