PAPAL MESSAGE TO FAO FOR WORLD FOOD DAY

VATICAN CITY, OCT 17, 2003 (VIS) - Made public yesterday afternoon was Pope John Paul's Message to Jacques Diouf, director general of FAO, the Food and Agricultural Organization, on the occasion of World Food Day 2003. The theme this year is "International Alliance Against Hunger."

The Pope opens the Message by noting that "the celebration of World Food Day invites us to reflect on the fact that hunger and malnutrition threaten the survival of many of our brothers and sisters daily. This harsh reality is a cause of division between individuals, social groups, communities and countries: indeed, it epitomizes the gap existing between levels of development and life-expectancy in different regions of the world."

"People are becoming increasingly aware," he writes, "of the need to unify aims and actions, as is the Church, which shares the hopes and sufferings of humanity. She is anxious to make her contribution to a solution that meets the expectations of each person. This prompts me, on the occasion of this World Food Day, to make a new appeal on behalf of the 'Alliance Against Hunger', an 'alliance' that must draw strength from a renewed understanding of multilateralism, ... founded on the idea of the international community as a 'family of nations' committed to pursuing the universal common good."

The Holy Father remarks that some of the elements at the basis of "the distressing phenomenon of poverty" include a "lack of management (and) the expansion of ideological and political systems far removed from the concept of solidarity. ... My thoughts go especially to Africa, where the situation continues to be quite alarming" with food shortages, conflicts, epidemics and constant displacements.

John Paul II states that "the Church, with her various institutions and organizations, wishes to play her role in this world 'Alliance Against Hunger' ... through her commitment to promote solidarity." He asks "the Christian communities, believers and all men and women of good will to live and work increasingly in the service of the poor and hungry, so that true reconciliation among individuals and peoples may come about."

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