Pope Leo decries leaders who 'feed' wars while millions go hungry
Pope Leo XIV said the agency’s 2026 appeal tops $10 billion and warned that conflicts are being funded more readily than food aid.
- On Monday, June 22, 2026, Pope Leo XIV addressed the United Nations World Food Programme in Rome, urging governments to increase funding and remove bureaucratic obstacles blocking hunger relief efforts.
- Funding for food assistance has dropped by about 59% since 2022, leaving the WFP's more than $10 billion appeal for 2026 severely underfunded despite the United States pledging $800 million last week.
- The Pope argued that aid projects face 'incomprehensible political decisions' and 'impenetrable customs barriers,' while 'conflicts are fed more readily than people are nourished,' revealing a paradox of global capacity.
- Following a reset in December, the United States announced $218 million in assistance to UNICEF, though the Trump administration had abolished the agency last year, cutting $60 billion in overall assistance.
- Warning that 'food security is an essential component of global and integral security,' the Holy Father called for renewed multilateral cooperation, concluding with prayer that all may 'receive their daily bread and live in dignity.
42 Articles
42 Articles
World’s conflicts are ‘fed’ more readily than people, Pope Leo XIV says
(OSV News) — World hunger has only worsened as conflicts in the world take priority over human lives and weaponry is allowed more distribution than basic humanitarian needs, Pope Leo XIV said. Addressing members of the United Nations’ World Food Program, or WFP, June 22, the pope said that while alleviating human suffering “is widely recognized as essential in principle,” humanitarian needs have taken a back seat to “international priorities.” …
Leo XIV visits the Rome headquarters of the World Food Programme. Hopefully to return to the "essential" in the face of a complexity caused by "necessary bureaucracy." Conflicts "powered" more easily than people dare. Denunciated the "silent commodification of human life." Appeal for a "multilateral cooperation."
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