Pope Leo XIV urges greater funding for food aid over war

Pope Leo XIV delivered a sharp critique of global priorities on Monday, telling the United Nations World Food Programme that the world is feeding conflicts more readily than it nourishes people. The pontiff visited the WFP headquarters in Rome, where he argued that excessive bureaucracy, political barriers, and skewed moral values are obstructing vital food aid while military spending faces no such impediments.

"In effect, conflicts are fed more readily than people are nourished," the Pope said in his address. He stated this reality reflects not only operational failures but a fundamental imbalance in political and moral priorities. He warned that aid and development projects are often hampered by convoluted political decisions, ideological visions, and customs barriers, whereas weaponry is not.

The Pope framed hunger as a destabilizing force that erodes social cohesion, heightens the risk of conflict, and fuels forced migration. He urged governments and international organizations to remove obstacles to aid delivery and to resist treating basic human needs like food, water, and health care as commodities subject to markets or geopolitical interests. "Access to adequate food is...