Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 1057

ALLOCUTIONES

I

Ad XXXIV Sessionem Instituti Nationum Unitarum Alimoniae et Agriculturae

provehendae (FAO).*

Mr President,

Mr Director General,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you gather for the Thirty-fourth Conference of the Food and Agricul-

ture Organization of the United Nations, I am pleased to welcome you to the

Vatican. Our meeting today is part of a tradition reaching back to the time

when your Organization first set up its headquarters in Rome. I am happy to

have yet another occasion to express appreciation for your work to eliminate

the scourge of global hunger.

As you know, the Holy See has always maintained a keen interest in every

effort made to rid the human family of famine and malnutrition, in the

awareness that resolving these problems requires not only extraordinary

dedication and highly refined technical training, but above all a genuine

spirit of cooperation uniting all men and women of good will.

This noble goal calls for unwavering acknowledgement of the inherent

dignity of the human person at every stage of life. All forms of discrimina-

tion, and particularly those that thwart agricultural development, must be

rejected since they constitute a violation of the basic right of every person to

be ''free from hunger''. These convictions are in fact demanded by the very

nature of your work on behalf of the common good of humanity, as expressed

so eloquently by your motto - fiat panis - words that are also at the heart

of the Gospel which the Church is called to proclaim.

The data gathered through your research and the extent of your pro-

grammes for supporting the global endeavour to develop the world's natural

resources clearly testify to one of the most troubling paradoxes of our time:

the relentless spread of poverty in a world that is also experiencing unprece-

* Die 22 Novembris 2007.