Pope Francis sends message to UN Food and Agriculture
Organization: Full Text
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday sent a message
to participants in the 40th General Conference of the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome.
The message was read out by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican
Secretary of State.
At the end of the message, Cardinal Parolin officially announced
that Pope Francis will visit the Rome headquarters of the FAO on World Food
Day, 16 October 2017, at the invitiation of its Director-General, José Graziano
da Silva.
Please find below the official English translation of
the message:
Message of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Participants
in the 40th General Conference of FAO
3 July 2017
Mr President,
I offer my respectful and cordial greetings to you, and to
all the Representatives of the Member States of FAO, as you assemble for the
Organization’s fortieth Conference.
My greeting also goes to the Director-General and to the
leaders of the other International Organizations present at this meeting, which
is called to provide appropriate responses to issues involving the agricultural
and food production sector, on which the expectations of millions of people
depend.
1. I regret that I cannot be present with you today, as has
been an established tradition dating back to the beginning of FAO’s presence in
Rome. I have therefore asked Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State,
to convey to you my message of encouragement and support, as well as my respect
and esteem for the demanding task that you must carry out.
The Holy See closely follows the work of the international
community and wishes to assist its efforts to promote not mere progress or
development goals in theory, but rather the actual elimination of hunger and
malnutrition. All of us realize that the intention to provide everyone
with his or her daily bread is not enough. Rather, there is a need to
recognize that all have a right to it and they must therefore benefit from
it. If the goals we continue to propose still remain distant, that is
largely dependent on the lack of a culture of solidarity, which fails to make
headway amid other international activities, which often remain bound only to
the pragmatism of statistics or the desire for efficiency that lacks the idea
of sharing.
The commitment of each country to increase its own level of
nutrition, to improve agricultural activity and the living conditions of the
rural population, is embodied in the encouragement of the agricultural sector,
in increased production or in the promotion of an effective distribution of
food supplies. Yet this is not enough. In effect, what those goals
demand is a constant acknowledgment that the right of every person to be free
of poverty and hunger depends on the duty of the entire human family to provide
practical assistance to those in need.
Hence, when a country is incapable of offering adequate
responses because its degree of development, conditions of poverty, climate
changes or situations of insecurity do not permit this, FAO and the other
intergovernmental institutions need to be able to intervene specifically and
undertake an adequate solidary action. Since the goods that God the
Creator has entrusted to us are meant for all, there is an urgent need for
solidarity to be the criterion inspiring all forms of cooperation in
international relations.
2. A glance at the current world situation does not offer us
a comforting picture. Yet we cannot remain merely preoccupied or, worse,
resigned. This moment of evident difficulty must make us even more
conscious that hunger and malnutrition are not only natural or structural
phenomena in determined geographical areas, but the result of a more complex
condition of underdevelopment caused by the indifference of many or the
selfishness of a few. The wars, acts of terrorism and forced
displacements that increasingly hinder or at least strongly condition even
cooperative efforts are not inevitable, but rather the consequence of concrete
decisions. We are dealing with a complex mechanism that mainly burdens
the most vulnerable, who are not only excluded from the processes of
production, but frequently obliged to leave their lands in search of refuge and
hope. Likewise, decisions taken in full freedom and conscience determine
the data relative to assistance given to poor countries. This continues
to decrease daily, in spite of reiterated appeals in the face of ever more
devastating crisis situations emerging in different areas of the planet.
We need to be aware that in these cases the freedom of
choice of each must take into account solidarity towards all, in relation to
actual needs, and the fulfilment in good faith of commitments undertaken or
proclaimed. In this regard, inspired also by the desire to encourage
governments, I would like to make a symbolic contribution to the FAO programme
that provides seeds to rural families in areas affected by the combined effects
of conflicts and drought. This gesture is offered in addition to the work
that the Church continues to carry out, in accordance with her vocation to
stand at the side of the earth’s poor and to accompany the effective commitment
of all on their behalf.
This commitment is asked of us today by the 2030 Development
Agenda, when it restates the idea that food security is a goal that can no
longer be put off. Yet only an effort inspired by authentic solidarity
will be capable of eliminating the great number of persons who are
undernourished and deprived of the necessities of life. This is a very
great challenge for FAO and for all the Institutions of the international
community. It is also a challenge that the Church is committed to on the
front lines.
It is my hope that the sessions of this Conference can give
renewed impulse to the work of the Organization and provide the practical
responses needed and desired by millions of our brothers and sisters. For
they see in the activity of FAO not only a technical contribution to increase
resources and to distribute the fruits of production, but also a concrete and
even unique sign of a fraternity that helps them to look to the future with
confidence.
May Almighty God, who is rich in mercy, bless you and your
service, and grant you the strength needed to contribute to the authentic
progress of our human family.
From the Vatican, 3 July 2017
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