Cynthia Ezegwu
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday condemned the world’s failure to prevent millions of people from suffering hunger, describing it as a “collective failure, an ethical aberration, and a historical sin.”
Speaking at the headquarters of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Rome during an event marking World Food Day and the agency’s 80th anniversary, the Pope decried what he called a “soulless economy” that prioritizes profit over human life.
“Allowing millions of human beings to live — and die — victims of hunger is a collective failure,” Leo said. “The scourge of hunger continues to atrociously plague a significant portion of humanity.”
His remarks came a day after the United Nations warned that global hunger has reached record levels, with around 319 million people facing acute food insecurity, including 44 million in emergency conditions, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).
The Pope criticized major aid cuts by wealthy nations, including the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, saying such decisions threaten to derail the global fight against poverty and hunger. Experts have warned the cuts could result in more than 14 million preventable deaths by 2030.
Highlighting what he termed “outrageous paradoxes,” the pontiff lamented that vast quantities of food are wasted daily while “multitudes of people scramble to find something in the garbage to put in their mouths.”
“How can we explain the inequalities that allow a few to have everything and many to have nothing?” he asked, urging the world to awaken from what he called a “fatal lethargy.”
Pope Leo cited conflicts and crises in Ukraine, Gaza, Haiti, Afghanistan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Yemen, and South Sudan, where, he said, “poverty has become the daily bread.” He also reminded the international community that using starvation as a weapon is a war crime.
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“The hungry faces of so many people who still suffer challenge us and invite us to reexamine our lifestyles, our priorities, and our way of living,” the Pope added.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu echoed the pontiff’s appeal, stressing the need to support the more than one billion people who work in the world’s food systems. He emphasized empowering small producers — especially women — through land rights, access to credit, and technology.
Pope Leo described women as “the silent architects of survival,” calling their role in combating hunger “indispensable yet often overlooked.
World Food Day is observed annually on October 16 to raise awareness and promote action for those who suffer from hunger and to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all.