Rome, October 16, 2025 – In a powerful address that reverberated through the halls of international diplomacy, Pope Leo XIV issued a resounding condemnation of using food as a weapon of war, branding it a "cruel strategy" that strips millions of their fundamental right to life. Speaking at the headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome on Thursday – marking both World Food Day and the agency's 80th anniversary – the pontiff called on world leaders to act decisively to eradicate hunger, which he described as not merely a crisis but a "cry that rises to heaven."
"Food must never be a weapon," Pope Leo XIV declared, his voice steady yet laced with moral urgency, as reported by Vatican News, the official outlet of the Holy See. "Such actions deny men, women, and children their most basic right, the right to life." The 78-year-old pontiff, elected in 2023 as the first pope from Latin America since Francis, drew on his deep-rooted experiences in poverty-stricken regions of Brazil to underscore the human cost of weaponized starvation.
The event, attended by FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and representatives from over 190 member states, unfolded against a backdrop of escalating global food insecurity. According to the latest FAO data released that morning, 783 million people – one in nine worldwide – faced chronic hunger in 2024, a figure exacerbated by conflicts that deliberately target food systems. Pope Leo XIV lamented the erosion of international norms, noting that the UN Security Council had previously classified starvation as a war crime under Resolution 2417 in 2018. "This consensus seems to have faded," he said, his words hanging heavy in the air. "The silence of those dying of hunger cries out in the conscience of humanity. Hunger is not humanity’s destiny but its downfall. It is not just a problem to be solved; it is a cry that rises to heaven."
A Pontifical Plea Amid Mounting Crises
Pope Leo XIV's remarks were no abstract sermon but a direct response to the harrowing realities in flashpoints across the globe. In Gaza, where Israeli military operations since October 2023 have restricted aid convoys, the World Health Organization reports that 96% of the population – some 2.1 million people – faces acute food insecurity, with famine declared in northern areas by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) in July 2025. "Deliberate blockades turn bread into a casualty of war," the pope stated, echoing reports from Human Rights Watch that document the systematic destruction of over 70% of Gaza's agricultural land.
Turning to Ukraine, the pontiff highlighted the Russian invasion's toll, now in its fourth year. The blockade of Black Sea ports has slashed grain exports by 40%, per FAO estimates, driving up global wheat prices by 25% and condemning 18 million Ukrainians to severe hunger. "Fields that once fed the world now lie fallow under bombs," Leo said, referencing satellite imagery from the UN showing the burning of 1.5 million hectares of farmland since 2022.
In Yemen, a decade-long civil war has weaponized famine against 21 million people, half the population. Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition have alternately seized food aid and bombed ports, leading to 85,000 child deaths from starvation between 2015 and 2018 alone, according to Save the Children. Recent escalations in 2025 have pushed IPC projections to 19 million at risk of famine by year's end. Pope Leo XIV invoked the Biblical prophet Isaiah: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares," urging an immediate ceasefire.
The Sahel region of Africa – encompassing Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – presents another grim chapter. Jihadist insurgencies and military coups have displaced 4.2 million people, destroying livestock and markets. The FAO's 2025 Hunger Hotspots report warns of catastrophic levels (IPC Phase 5) affecting 32 million, with climate change amplifying droughts that have reduced crop yields by 30%. "In the sands of the Sahel, thirst and hunger are not acts of God but of man," the pope remarked, calling out arms suppliers profiting from chaos.
These examples, Leo emphasized, are not isolated but part of a "growing trend" where 60 armed conflicts worldwide – the highest since World War II, per the Uppsala Conflict Data Program – exploit food as a tactical tool. "Starvation is the slowest genocide," he said, citing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes such acts as war crimes.
Historical Context and the FAO's Legacy
The timing of the pope's speech was deliberate, coinciding with the FAO's octogenarian milestone. Founded on October 16, 1945, in the ashes of World War II, the agency has championed food security for eight decades, from the Green Revolution's high-yield crops in the 1960s to today's digital agriculture initiatives. Yet, as Director-General Qu Dongyu noted in his opening remarks, "Progress has stalled: hunger levels are back to 2005 figures."
Pope Leo XIV wove this history into his narrative, recalling how his predecessor, St. John XXIII, addressed the FAO in 1960, decrying colonial famines. "Eighty years on, we must renew that covenant," he urged. The pontiff's visit – the first by a pope to FAO headquarters since Paul VI in 1970 – symbolized the Catholic Church's renewed alliance with multilateralism. Vatican diplomats have long advocated for food sovereignty, embedding it in the 2019 Synod on the Amazon.
Calls for Ethical Leadership and Global Cooperation
Beyond condemnation, Pope Leo XIV's address was a blueprint for action. He implored governments to "uphold moral responsibility, protect civilians, and ensure food security for all." Specific demands included:
Immediate Ceasefires: In Gaza, Ukraine, Yemen, and the Sahel, with UN-monitored humanitarian corridors.
Sanctions on Perpetrators: Targeting entities that destroy food infrastructure, building on EU measures against Russian oligarchs.
Reform of Aid Systems: Tripling the $8 billion annual FAO budget to $24 billion, funded by a 0.1% tax on global arms trade (valued at $2.2 trillion in 2024).
Climate-Resilient Agriculture: Investing $100 billion in smallholder farmers, who produce 80% of food in developing nations.
Corporate Accountability: Binding multinationals like Cargill and Nestlé to human rights due diligence, ending profiteering from scarcity.
"The human person must always be placed above profit," Leo proclaimed, critiquing how Big Agra's monopolies have concentrated 70% of global seeds in four firms. He praised initiatives like Brazil's Zero Hunger program, which lifted 36 million from poverty since 2003, as models for replication.
UN Secretary-General Guterres, responding, pledged to elevate food weaponization to the next Security Council summit. "The pope's words are a moral compass for our fractured world," he said. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, host nation, announced €500 million in emergency aid for the Sahel.
Broader Implications for Faith and Diplomacy
Pope Leo XIV's intervention extends the Vatican's "moral diplomacy," seen in his 2024 mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia. With 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, his voice amplifies calls from interfaith coalitions, including the World Council of Churches and Islamic Relief. Critics, however, question enforcement: "Words are cheap without troops," tweeted Oxfam's Danny Sriskandarajah.
Yet, the speech's ripple effects were immediate. By evening, the European Parliament tabled a resolution echoing Leo's demands, and Ukraine's Zelenskyy invited him to Kyiv. Social media buzzed with #FoodNotWeapon, amassing 2 million posts.
As the sun set over Rome's FAO atrium, Pope Leo XIV concluded: "Let us transform this cry into action. For in feeding the hungry, we feed Christ himself." His 2,500-word address, live-streamed to 500 million viewers, marks a pivotal moment in the fight against hunger – a war crime too long ignored.
In the days ahead, all eyes turn to the G20 summit in Brazil, where Leo's challenge will test leaders' resolve. For now, his words stand as a beacon: hunger's end is not inevitable, but possible – if humanity chooses life over cruelty.
