“The efforts of Governments and of the various components of the International Community should be oriented towards effective choices, in the awareness that freedom from the ravages of hunger is the first concrete expression of the right to life which, although solemnly proclaimed, is often far from being effectively implemented”. The day after the World Food Day, Benedict XVI has called on the international community to take prompt and effective action.
The Pope sent a message that was read out by the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to FAO, Mgr. Luigi Travaglino, during the ceremony held today at FAO headquarters in Rome. Referring to the “many victims of hunger in the Horn of Africa”, the Pope said in a situation like this in which “entire communities are starving to death and are forced to leave their native lands, it is certainly essential to provide immediate help, but medium and long-term interventions are also required to ensure the international action is not limited to emergency response”. This year’s theme for the Day is “Food prices – from crisis to stability”. In this regard, Benedict XVI asked “that food be considered not as any other goods and therefore also subjected to speculative manoeuvres”.