Issued by the Catholic Center for Studies and Media - Jordan. Editor-in-chief Fr. Rif'at Bader - موقع أبونا abouna.org

Published on Monday, 16 October 2017
“Wars and climate change are not an incurable disease”

By Iacopo Scaramuzzi/ lastampa.it :

The Pope at FAO: migrants “cannot be stopped by physical, legislative and ideological barriers”. He presented a statue of little Aylan, and criticized Trump on the Paris Agreement.

*****

“Certainly, wars and climate change cause hunger, so let’s avoid presenting it as an incurable disease.” Pope Francis visited the headquarters of the FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organization) and, in a long speech in Spanish, appealed to a better world food distribution, stressing that “reducing is easy, sharing instead imposes a conversion, and this is challenging”. From the Pope an implicit yet cunning remark to US President Donald Trump, regarding the Paris climate agreement from which “some are unfortunately moving away”, and an exhortation to “good will and dialogue to stop conflicts” and to “a gradual and systematic disarmament”. A heartfelt appeal in favor of migrants fleeing from hunger, “They cannot be stopped by physical, economic, legislative and ideological barriers”, Francis said, who asked diplomacy not to “get stuck behind linguistic sophisms”, and support the world pact promoted by the UN for a safe, orderly and regular migration. At the FAO headquarters the Pontiff presented a statue of the Syrian child refugee, Aylan, who died on a beach while trying to reach Europe. “Is it too much - asked Francis - to think of introducing in the language of international cooperation the category of love, declined as gratuitousness, fair-trade, solidarity, culture of giving, fraternity, mercy?

“Certainly, wars and climate change determine hunger, so let’s avoid presenting it as an incurable disease,” Francis said and pointed the finger against the “speculation” on food resources, which “favor conflicts and waste” and increase “the ranks of the last among earth’s inhabitants in search for a future outside their territories of origin. Faced with all this - the Pope continued - we can and must change course. In view of the increasing demand for food, it is essential that the fruits of the earth are available to all. For some people, the answer is to reduce the number of mouths to feed to solve the problem; but it is a false solution if we consider the amounts of food waste and consumption models that waste so many resources. Reducing is easy, but sharing requires conversion, and this is challenging.”

After having recalled the decision to establish the FAO on 16 October 1945, the Pope said that, that commitment must be renewed today, because “today’s reality demands greater responsibility at all levels not only to guarantee the necessary production or fair distribution of the fruits of the earth - this should go without saying - but above all to protect the right of every human being to feed themselves according to their own needs, also by taking part to the decisions that concern them along with the realization of their own needs without having to separate themselves from their loved ones. And if today cooperation is “increasingly conditioned by partial commitments, which sometimes even limit aid in emergencies”, and “death by hunger or abandonment of one’s land is daily news, which risks provoking indifference”, it is urgent “to find new ways, to transform the possibilities we have in a guarantee that allows every person to look to the future with good faith and not only with some desire”.

“The scenario of international relations shows a growing capacity to respond to the expectations of the human family, also with the contribution of science and technology, which through problem analysis, are able to propose suitable solutions. Yet these new goals are unable to successfully eliminate the exclusion of a large part of the world’s population: how many are the victims of malnutrition, wars and climate change? Those who lack work and essential goods and are forced to leave their land, exposing themselves to many terrible forms of exploitation?

“The relationship between hunger and migration can only be addressed if we go to the root of the problem,” the Pope said. In this regard, the studies carried out by the United Nations, as well as by many civil society organizations, agree that there are two main obstacles to overcome: conflicts and climate change.

“How can we overcome conflicts”, Francis said, citing for example those “populations that have been tormented by wars that have lasted for decades and that could have been avoided or at least stopped, and instead propagate their disastrous effects, including food shortage and forced displacement? Good will and dialogue are needed to curb conflicts” Jorge Mario Bergoglio noted,” and we need to work hard for a gradual and systematic disarmament, as provided for in the United Nations Charter, as well as to remedy the dreadful scourge of arms trafficking. What is the point of denouncing that millions of people are suffering from hunger and malnutrition because of conflicts if we do not work effectively for peace and disarmament?

About climate change, “we see the consequences every day. Thanks to scientific knowledge, we know how the problems must be dealt with; and the international community has also been developing the necessary legal instruments, such as the Paris agreements, from which, however - Francis emphasized in evident reference to the President of the United States, Donald Trump - unfortunately (”por desgracia” in Spanish, ed.) some are pulling out. There is a reemerging disregard for the delicate balance of our ecosystems, the presumption of manipulating and controlling the planet’s limited resources, and the greed for profit. Efforts must therefore be made to achieve a concrete and effective consensus if we want to avoid more tragic effects, which will continue to be felt by the poorest and most defenseless people. We are called upon to propose a change in lifestyles, in the use of resources, in production criteria, up to the consumption of food, which sees increasing losses and waste. We cannot resign ourselves to saying, “someone else will think about it”.

I ask myself - and I ask you - this question “, the Pope said:” Would it be too much to think about introducing in the language of international cooperation the category of love, declined as gratuitousness, fair trade, solidarity, culture of giving, fraternity, mercy? Actually, these words express the practical content of the term “humanitarian”, which is so commonly used in international activity. To love our brothers and sisters and to do so first, without expecting anything in return: this is an evangelical principle that finds its place in many cultures and religions and becomes a principle of humanity in the language of international relations”. For Francis, “loving means contributing so that each country may increase its production and achieve food self-sufficiency. Loving means thinking about new models of development and consumption, and adopting policies that do not aggravate the situation of less advanced populations or their external dependence. To love means not to continue to divide the human family between those who have the superfluous and those who lack the necessary”.

The international community, the Pope said again, is aware of the presence of weapons of mass destruction, but “are we equally aware of the effects of poverty and exclusion? How can we stop people who are willing to risk everything, entire generations who may disappear because they lack their daily bread, or are victims of violence or climate change? They direct themselves to where they see a light or perceive life expectancy. They cannot be stopped by physical, economic, legislative and ideological barriers: only a coherent application of the principle of humanity can do so. But public aid to developing countries is being reduced and multilateral institutions are being restricted in their activities, while there is a use of bilateral agreements which subordinate cooperation to particular agendas and alliances or, more simply, to a temporary state of peace. On the contrary, the management of human mobility - the Pope stressed - requires a coordinated and systematic intergovernmental action, conducted according to the existing international norms and permeated by love and intelligence. Its goal is a meeting of peoples that enriches all and builds union and dialogue, and not exclusion and vulnerability”.

Here - added the Pope - let me connect to the debate on the vulnerability that is dividing the international community when talking about migrants. Vulnerable is a person is in a state of inferiority and that cannot defend himself or herself, they have no means, and lives an exclusion. This is because they are forced by violence, natural situations or worse, by indifference, intolerance and even hatred. Faced with this condition, it is right to identify the causes in order to act with the necessary expertise. But it is not acceptable, however, that in order to avoid committing oneself, one should entrench behind linguistic sophisms that do not honor diplomacy but reduce it, from “art of the possible” to a sterile exercise to justify selfishness and inactivity. It is hoped that all this will be taken into account in the development of the Pacto mundial para una migración seguera, regular y ordenada, which is currently under way in the United Nations”.

We shall listen to the cry of many of our marginalized and excluded brothers and sisters, “I am hungry, I’m a foreigner, naked, sick, locked up in a refugee camp”, the Pope said. It is a demand for justice, not a supplication or an emergency appeal. A broad and sincere dialogue is needed at all levels in order to find the best solutions and to develop a new relationship between the different actors on the international scene, based on mutual responsibility, solidarity and communion. The rule of misery generated by the often-tragic movements of migrants can be removed through a prevention made of development projects that create work and capacity to respond to climate and environmental crises. Prevention costs far less than the effects of land degradation or water pollution, which affects the key areas of the planet where poverty is the only law, diseases are on the increase and life expectancy is decreasing.

The hope - concluded the Pope, arousing a standing ovation, after recalling the Church’s commitment - is that everyone will discover, in the silence of their faith or beliefs, the motivations, principles and contributions to give FAO and other intergovernmental institutions the courage to improve and persevere for the good of the human family”.

The Pope, who had already visited FAO in 2014, returned to today’s celebration of World Food Day, whose theme this year was, “Changing the future of migration. Investing in food security and rural development”. Francis arrived shortly before 9am, and was welcomed by the Director General of FAO, Brazilian José Graziano da Silva, and returned to the Vatican at 10:15 a. m. Jorge Mario Bergoglio gave a marble sculpture by the Trentino artist Luigi Prevedel, depicting Aylan, the Syrian child refugee who drowned in front of the beach of Bodrum in Turkey in October 2015, a symbolic image of the migration tragedy.