Baku, November 19, AZERTAC

Pope Francis has called attention to the scandal of world hunger, worsened by the armed conflicts in our world today and the huge amounts of money spent on weapons and armaments rather than helping to feed three billion people in our would without access to food or adequate nutrition, according to Vatican News.

The Pope's words came in a message read by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, addressed to Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil is hosting the two-day G20 Leaders' Summit that opened on 18 November in Rio de Janeiro with the presence of the leaders of the 19 member countries, plus the African Union and the European Union.

In congratulating President Lula da Silva for facilitating the meeting in its role as current chair of the Group of 20, the Pope expressed his greetings and hope to all those participating so that their discussions and the outcomes will truly contribute to making a better world and a prosperous future for the generations to come.

The Pope underscored the immediate and primary necessity of eliminating hunger in our world as many millions continue to suffer and die from hunger, while tons of food are thrown away, quoting from his Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti, how "this constitutes a genuine scandal" and stressing that "hunger is criminal; food is an inalienable right."

Acknowledging the problems caused by wars, conflicts, and the persistence of injustices, the Pope underscored the importance in finding new ways to achieve "a stable and lasting peace in all conflict-related areas, with the objective of restoring the dignity of those affected." The death and destruction caused by these wars is also contributing to worsening famine and poverty, he pointed out, affecting places even far away from the conflicts through the disruption of supply chains and huge amounts of money spent for weapons and armaments as a result.

Of great concern today, the Pope writes, is how the world has still not found ways to deal with the tragedy of starvation, and this "silent acceptance" by society is "a scandalous injustice and a grave offence." This is especially true when those through usury or greed cause the starvation of their brothers and sisters, which is "committing a homicide." Therefore, he stresses, "no effort should be spared to lift people out of poverty and hunger."

Social and economic injustices exacerbate the reality of hunger, the Pope continues, and this poverty can perpetuate "a cycle of economic and social inequalities that are pervasive in our global society."