Pope Leo urges global action on hunger in Rome WFP visit

Pope Leo made a direct appeal to world leaders on Monday to redouble their efforts to end hunger, calling access to food a “fundamental human right” during a visit to the World Food Programme headquarters in Rome. The pontiff’s remarks came as the United Nations agency warned that nearly 733 million people worldwide go to bed hungry every night.

Pope Leo’s message at the WFP

Standing inside the WFP’s Rome campus, Pope Leo didn’t mince words. He urged governments and international institutions to move beyond pledges and take concrete steps toward ensuring food security for the world’s most vulnerable populations. The visit was symbolic but pointed — a head of the Catholic Church walking into a building that coordinates food relief for over 120 countries.

“We cannot speak of human dignity while millions of children face starvation,” a senior Vatican official said following the address. “The Holy Father is calling this what it is — a moral failure.”

The Pope also referenced the ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Gaza as key drivers of acute hunger, noting that humanitarian corridors are being blocked at a time when they’re needed most.

Gaza’s humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate

The situation in Gaza remains dire. Aid organizations report that food, medicine and fuel are still entering the territory at far below what’s needed. The World Health Organization said last week that at least 16 hospitals are either non-functional or only partially operational. More than 2.1 million people are trapped in conditions that multiple agencies have now described as catastrophic.

Truck convoys carrying supplies have faced repeated delays at crossing points, and distribution inside the territory has become increasingly dangerous for aid workers. At least 280 humanitarian staff have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, making it the deadliest conflict on record for aid personnel.

Still, relief agencies say they won’t give up on reaching civilians.

Lebanese families begin returning home

On a more hopeful note, families in southern Lebanon have begun making their way back to villages that were evacuated during recent cross-border hostilities. The UN estimates that around 90,000 displaced people have returned to their homes in the past three weeks, though many are arriving to find significant structural damage.

Local officials in Tyre said reconstruction efforts are underway but funding remains a serious gap. The Lebanese government has appealed for $1.2 billion in international assistance to repair infrastructure, schools and housing. So far, donor pledges have fallen well short of that figure.

Some families described returning to homes with collapsed roofs or no electricity. But they came back anyway. “It’s still home,” one returning resident told reporters near the border. “We didn’t want to stay away any longer.”

What comes next

All three situations — the push on hunger, the Gaza crisis and Lebanon’s slow recovery — are expected to feature prominently at a UN General Assembly side event on humanitarian funding later this month. Whether words will translate into action is, as always, the harder question.