Address by Pope Leo XIV
His Excellency Mr Qu Dongyu
Director-General of the FAO
Your Excellency,
Your Excellency,
1. The theme for this year’s World Food Day is “Innovate Today. Nourish Tomorrow.” By helping the earth yield its fruit, humanity does not merely engage in a technical operation, but fulfills the command to care for the earth and cultivate it (cf. Gen 2:15), a command that precedes all legal frameworks and technological innovations. Nevertheless, we currently find ourselves in a paradoxical situation, in which global progress is advancing at an ever-increasing pace, while hunger and poverty continue to persist. This is not a technical or financial problem, but rather a profound anthropological and ethical crisis.
2. Today, people speak of innovation with great confidence. However, this term is often used only in reference to the development of devices and algorithms, or the optimization of performance merely for the sake of financial gain. It is therefore necessary to change the way we conceive of such progress, for genuine innovation does not displace creation but involves reverently inquiring into the complex laws that guide the work of the Creator’s hands. Using appropriate technology to cultivate the land is an expression of the human person’s role as God’s collaborator in the work of creation. However, when modern technology is used in agriculture in ways that strip the soil of its natural fertility or drives farmers from their land, motivated solely by financial considerations, this cannot be regarded as progress, but instead as a sophisticated form of destruction. Moreover, the irresponsible use of technology for exclusively selfish interests, rather than for the common good, not only violates the principle of solidarity, but also disregards humanity’s duty to safeguard creation. The kind of innovation the world needs, therefore, is not measured solely by the quantity of grain produced, but also by the protection of the human dignity that God has bestowed upon each of us and the integrity of the ecosystem that we are called to preserve.
3. Hunger cannot be considered a statistical anomaly, for it is caused mainly by a lack of political will and collective charity. Nor are food shortages geographically unavoidable. Indeed, in an era of greater technological advancement than ever before, it is intolerable that bread should be considered a privilege and water a contested commodity. Regular access to safe, adequate and sufficient food, in keeping with the dignity of every person, is a basic human right. Guaranteeing this right is an obligation of justice that binds both individual States and the international community. And yet, while innovations accelerate production, distribution is being neglected. Grain markets are being optimized on stock exchanges, while the actual seeds that germinate in the soil fall into the hands of monopolies that suffocate small-scale farming.
4. Ensuring that tomorrow’s nutritional needs will be met requires freeing food production from a purely speculative mentality. Bread should be neither an instrument of geopolitical pressure nor a volatile financial asset. Nor must it ever be used as a weapon of war. Indeed, it is a terrible offense against human dignity to prevent bread from reaching any person or to destroy the means by which it is produced. Bread is precious because it sustains the life that God has given us. Thus, we must overcome the temptation of short-term thinking. The myth that growth can be endless when resources are limited has reached breaking point. Today, innovation requires adopting an intergenerational sense of responsibility that looks beyond annual budgets. Innovation means reconciling technology with wisdom, including ancestral wisdom, while maintaining a vision for the future. It is not a matter of rejecting technological advances, but rather of integrating them with the wisdom of farmers who have deepened their understanding of the soil and the climate through centuries of conscientious observation. This likewise involves protecting water as an inalienable common good.
5. Mr Director-General, I encourage the Food and Agriculture Organization, and its member States, not to settle for abstract analyses or declarations of limited effectiveness. Now is the time for moral audacity. A new global food order is essential — one in which technological innovation is unconditionally subordinated to respect for God-given human dignity and the universal common good. Furthermore, there is an urgent ethical imperative to redirect resources invested in the war industry toward sustainable agricultural research and the regeneration of degraded soils. Tomorrow is not an abstract span of time that awaits us passively; rather, it is the harvest of what we sow today through our decisions. If we sow unethical innovation based on a desire to dominate the earth and exclude the weak, we will reap barrenness and strife. If, on the other hand, innovation stems from respect for the natural order and justice for the hungry, tomorrow will bring a table spread wide for the nourishment of humanity.
6. With these thoughts for those who dedicate themselves to cultivating and protecting creation, I invoke upon all the abundant blessings of Almighty God, and I willingly assure you of the Holy See’s tireless support for initiatives that assist the FAO in its noble efforts.
Source: vatican.va
