At the 80th anniversary of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Pope Leo XIV delivered a powerful speech condemning the ongoing global hunger crisis as “an ethical derailment and a collective human failure.”
Speaking before world leaders and diplomats, the Pope said:
“It is unacceptable that in an age of abundance, more than 673 million people still go to bed hungry each night. Hunger is not fate — it is a failure of compassion, a failure of policy, and a failure of humanity.”
He urged governments to take concrete action rather than offer symbolic promises, stressing that food should never be used as a “weapon of war or political control.”
The Pontiff’s remarks come amid worsening food insecurity driven by conflict, climate change, and economic instability.
His speech marks one of the strongest moral rebukes from the Vatican in recent years on social justice issues.
Earlier in the week, Pope Leo also appealed to Italy’s leaders to “keep their doors and hearts open” to migrants, thanking the country for its ongoing fight against human trafficking.
However, his papacy has not been without controversy. Some Vatican insiders have expressed concern over recent reversals of Pope Francis’s financial reforms, raising questions about transparency and internal accountability.
Still, Pope Leo’s message remains clear:
“If we want peace, we must first end hunger. The cry of the poor is not a noise to be silenced, but a call to act.”
With his renewed call for moral responsibility and global cooperation, Pope Leo XIV continues to position the Church as a vocal defender of human dignity and social justice on the world stage.