By ROBIN WILLIAMS
POPE Francis has offered his blessing and support to a worldwide anti-hunger campaign.
Caritas Australia, the Catholic Church’s agency for international aid and development, took part in the launch of a global “wave of prayer” on December 10.
The wave marks the beginning of an 18-month Caritas campaign, One Human Family, Food for all. The campaign is backed by the whole Caritas confederation of more than 160 member organisations.
Caritas Internationalis president Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga said it was a scandal that nearly a billion people went hungry each day in a world that had the resources to feed everyone.
“There is enough food to feed the planet. We believe that with your help, we can end hunger by 2025,” Cardinal Rodríguez said. “One of the worst sounds a parent can hear is their children crying at night, tormented by hunger. Many parents living in poverty hear this cry and yet they have no food to give them. But God always hears the cries of the poor and vulnerable.”
The wave will begin close to home in the Pacific on the island of Samoa and sweep across the globe, finishing in the Pacific. It will involve Caritas organisations and supporters in Australia and across all continents from Asia to Africa, Europe to Latin America and beyond.
Caritas Australia acting chief executive officer Mark Green said that having governments guarantee the right to food in their national laws was an essential step in ensuring food for all.
“The right to food protects the right of all human beings to live in dignity, free from hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition,” Mr Green said “We must act now.”
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