Ending hunger is an act of faith

On June 12, Pope Francis made the first ever papal visit to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). His visit made a statement to the world that hunger is a moral issue.

While pledging his support to efforts to end hunger, Pope Francis urged the world not to become complacent. “We are bombarded by so many images that we see pain but do not touch it, we hear weeping, but do not comfort it, we see thirst but do not quench it,” the Pope said in his speech to the WFP. “Without faces and stories, human lives become statistics and we run the risk of bureaucratising the suffering of others.Bureaucracies shuffle papers, compassion deals with human beings.”

Shortly after, World Vision International’s president, Kevin Jenkins, had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis and address an inter-religious panel convened by WFP to explore how people of all faiths could contribute to ending hunger by 2030. In our interconnected world, we are all each other’s’ neighbors.

“We live in a global village, so the face of hunger – the Syrian refugee and the hungry girl in South Sudan – is our neighbour, wherever we live,” Jenkins shared. “For Christians – and, I venture, for all people of faith – the neighbour is one whom we are to serve because we love them,” Jenkins continued. “Committing to end hunger by 2030 is an act of faith in line with that great command.” 

World Vision is WFP’s largest implementing food assistance partner and a proud supporter of the UN’s Zero Hunger Campaign to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030. How will you commit to end hunger where you are?

Learn more about the Zero Hunger Challenge here.

Read more about the drive for inter-faith action here.