The Pontiff cited figures that challenge governments, businesses, and citizens alike: 673 million people go to bed hungry, and 2.3 billion cannot afford a nutritionally adequate diet. Five years from the 2030 Agenda’s horizon, he reminded listeners that the Zero Hunger goal will be unattainable without real political will, stable funding, and coordinated cooperation among international agencies, states, academia, civil society, and the private sector. His appeal was unequivocal: assume shared responsibility and stop looking the other way.
With particular gravity, Leo XIV condemned the use of food as a weapon of war, a practice that reappears in conflict zones and undermines decades of awareness-raising. He mentioned ongoing crises in Ukraine, Gaza, Haiti, Afghanistan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Yemen, and South Sudan, stressing that the “silence of those dying of hunger” should shake the consciences—and agendas—of decision-makers. War, he said, destroys fields before it destroys cities and drives humanity to unworthy scenes, with children searching for food “skin clinging to their bones.”
The Pope was equally demanding of politics and public culture. He warned against a polarized paradigm that replaces the person with profit and reduces solidarity to rhetoric. He urged embodying values—not merely proclaiming them—and proposed an ethical vision that reconciles effectiveness with human dignity. His defense of multilateralism was central: in a multipolar, interdependent world, strong institutions and real cooperation are needed to curb “autocratic temptations” and refocus priorities on the least advantaged.
There was also an explicit acknowledgment of women’s leadership in the fight against hunger. Leo XIV described women as “silent architects of survival” and “guardians of creation,” calling for their role to be valued and backed with policies, resources, and effective representation in decision-making. He linked this call to a broad notion of integral development that weaves together food, health, education, sustainability, and social peace.
The message added a pastoral dimension: do not grow accustomed to misery as “background music,” but recover the capacity for active compassion. He invited everyone to revisit lifestyles and priorities, reduce waste—which coexists with mass hunger—and steer consumption toward value chains that fairly remunerate rural producers, protect biodiversity, and strengthen climate resilience. In this vision, progress is not measured only by GDP, but by a society’s ability to secure bread, dignity, and a future for the most vulnerable.
The address—attended by leaders such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Queen Letizia—concluded with an offer of accompaniment: the Holy See and Church institutions, he affirmed, are ready to collaborate with all stakeholders to achieve lasting, verifiable results. On a symbolic anniversary for the FAO, Leo XIV offered not a complacent diagnosis but an ethical mandate that blends urgency and hope: ending hunger is possible if political will, resources, and cooperation align; what is lacking is not solutions, but the collective courage to implement them.
