Working families are among the growing number lining up for help as the cost of living and inflation bubble upwards.

Food shortages are hitting food banks too.

Like "Mother Hubbard", who went to the cupboard, North Island foodbank staff are finding bare pantries.

People are generous but can't afford to donate as they did in the past - they just don't have the means.

Less food, fewer parcels

Aotearoa Food Parcel Measure indicates that the nationwide number of food parcels distributed in March was 3422 fewer than at the start of the year.

"We're having to really tighten the budget and be really careful with our purchasing, we're mindful that we're in a position of reasonable stability for a charitable organisation," says Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin.

Urban marae are also trying to fill their communities' pantries. They are cash-strapped too.

Papakura Marae's Tony Kake says his marae's foodbank is struggling to feed everyone asking for help. They give out about 300 food parcels per week. About 75 percent of the whanau they help are regulars - but anyone who needs help is welcome, he says.

Where to from here?

Any idea that last week's budget would help has died.

In a statement commenting on the 2023 Budget, the Auckland Catholic Diocese Justice and Peace Commission says there is little bread-and-butter support for those in most need and very little to alleviate intergenerational family poverty.

The Commission said that implementing the May 2019 Welfare Expert Advisory Group's key recommendation to substantially increase basic Social Welfare payments so that families can support themselves continues to be ignored.

"And the promised relief for families in the face of rising costs seems to be completely missing in action.

"What sort of society are we when 71 billion dollars can be found for very necessary infrastructure but only scraps of funding for families who are so overwhelmed by rising food and rent costs, they are being forced to choose between paying the rent to avoid homelessness and feeding hungry children?"

The Commission thinks a more focused approach to providing support would help.

There needs to be a solid plan in place, moving ahead, "rather than just a reactive, here's an extra $10 a week" the Commission said.

Helen Robinson, Chair of Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective and Manutaki at the Auckland City Mission, says local government and local food plans need to be at the heart of the response, while being connected to a National Food Strategy.

This would mean our domestic and export food systems are in concert with each other.

Robinson's basing her views on a report the Collective has just released. Called 'Realising Food Secure Communities in Aotearoa: a review of locally led reports, plans and strategies', it shows us that we know how to do this, and that we can, she says.

It spotlight ways mana whenua, local communities, councils and central government can work together.

When working in partnership, together we can build food secure communities, Robinson says.

Source

• RNZ
• NZ Herald
• Voxy
• Supplied - Justice and Peace Commission

They should be spending money on those battles, not on fighting each other, nation against nation. Yet vast sums are spent on armaments for waging war.

This is "a scandal" that just drags civilisation backward, Francis told a group of Italian volunteers from an organisation called "I Was Thirsty."

Founded in 2012, the group sets up projects that provide clean drinking water to communities in need around the world.

"What is the point of all of us solemnly committing ourselves together at international level to campaigns against poverty, against hunger, against the degradation of the planet, if we then fall back into the old vice of war, into the old strategy of the power of armaments, which takes everything and everyone backward?"

As all life on Earth depends on water, "why should we wage war on each other over conflicts that we should resolve by talking to each other?

"Why not, instead, join forces and resources to fight the real battles of civilisation together: the fight against hunger and thirst; the fight against disease and epidemics; the fight against poverty and modern-day slavery?"

Not all choices are "neutral," he told the group.

Choosing to allocate a large percentage of a national budget on arms, which means taking resources away from those who lack basic necessities, is not a "neutral" choice.

There's another aspect to choosing to spend money on weapons. Doing so "dirties the soul, dirties the heart, dirties humanity," he explained.

In a separate message written on the pope's behalf, the Vatican Secretary of State told those taking part in the World Water Forum in Senegal this week that managing the world's water resources sustainably and cooperatively across national boundaries helps contribute to peace.

His words supported the forum's aims, which focus on water security's role in building peace and development.

"Water is a valuable asset for peace. As a result, it cannot be considered simply as a private good, generating commercial profit and subject to the laws of the market," Cardinal Pietro Parolin wrote.

The right to drinking water and sanitation is closely linked to the right to life and "water is a gift to us from God" meant for all people and generations.

Parolin said Francis hopes the forum will be an opportunity for people to work together to guarantee the right to drinking water and sanitation for every person.

This would lead to water becoming"a true symbol of sharing, of constructive and responsible dialogue" that promotes peace and is built on trust.

Source

• Crux Now
• Image: MadeBlue

But instead, it clearly appears that more often than not, Catholics - much like the general public - make important decisions on who to vote for, and where to come down on crucial issues, based primarily on the political party they affiliate with and from their cultural, economic and political leanings as being either conservative or liberal.

Putting faith on the back burner is not Christocentric, and is not Catholic.

And so when it comes to the life and death issues facing billions of suffering brothers and sisters - born and unborn, in one's nation, as well as in all other countries - Catholics for the most part, don't look, sound or act much different than the larger secular population. And that's not good.

But in the Gospel, Jesus puts forth to his followers this challenging directive: "You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house."

In a world that is so often darkened by what Pope Francis calls the "culture of indifference," we, the modern-day followers of Jesus, like his ancient followers, are called to radiate the Master's light of love upon the various sufferings of countless brothers and sisters.

But we are taking this mandate too lightly - in a fractured and partial way.

In general, I have long found that very often Catholics with conservative leanings, more or less oppose abortion, infanticide, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, promiscuous public school sex education and government attacks on religious liberty and traditional marriage.

And in general, I have long found that very often Catholics with liberal leanings, more or less support nonviolent peace initiatives, demilitarization, drastically cutting military budgets and redirecting those funds to end global hunger and poverty, protecting the environment while working to end human-induced climate change, abolishing capital punishment, welcoming migrants and refugees, opposing racism, and fighting to stop human trafficking.

Each of these efforts is morally commendable - to a point.

But the problem is that when it comes to conservative Catholic social action initiatives and liberal Catholic social action initiatives, it most often boils down to "never the twain shall meet."

And this is disastrous - disastrous for our Catholic faith and for all who will continue to suffer because we prefer biased, ideological, narrow-minded tunnel vision to open-minded, heartfelt Catholic dialogue that places the Gospel and Catholic social teaching as our foundation.

Catholic conservatives and Catholic liberals desperately need to pray and take concrete steps in forging a unity designed to work together to develop holistic nonviolent strategies aimed at protecting the life and dignity of every single human being from conception to natural death - with a preferential option for the poorest and most vulnerable, including our common earth-home.

Instead of ranking the life issues, we need to link them, always bearing in mind that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Thus, all the life-links need to be strong!

Imagine what a moral, political, economic, cultural and religious beacon of light the Catholic Church would be if conservative Catholics and liberal Catholics would come together, in a determined way to learn from each other, to pray together and to work together with Christocentric passion building Pope Francis' "culture of encounter" where all life is respected, protected and nurtured!

• Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings. Tony can be reached at tmag6@comcast.net.

Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, who advocates for peace, minority rights and economic justice, has labeled hunger "the more lethal virus" as "starvation is the new virus and hunger is a permanent pandemic during Covid."

He said 821 million people around the world do not have sufficient food needed to live an active, healthy life. One in every nine people goes to bed hungry each night.

He cited Oxfam's estimate that hunger will affect more than 122 million people. At least 12,000 people will die of hunger every day if the contagion continues, while the virus kills some 6,000 to 9,000 every day.

During a homily on Aug. 2, Cardinal Bo raised his concerns about hunger and the impact of Covid-19 on the poor. He said the lockdown has closed livelihood opportunities for the poor, daily wage earners and farmers.

"There cannot be a lockdown for hunger. The human stomach never has a lockdown. The stomach is the most dangerous organ in the body. Starvation can make people slaves and lose all their dignity," he said.

The 72-year-old cardinal said poverty kills nearly 20,000 children every day in poor countries. A rough estimate of death by hunger caused by poverty and the coronavirus would result in at least 10 million deaths a year — more than Covid-related deaths.

"This is a silent hunger genocide as dreadful as world war victim numbers. Not a food shortage but a shortage of justice," he said, adding that greed has taken over humanity and millions are exploited and thousands die of starvation every day.

"There is not only one coronavirus that is ravaging humanity today. The virus of avarice, the virus of exploitation, the virus of hunger, the virus of oppression are destroying humanity," he said.

Health and human crisis

The United Nations said the Covid-19 pandemic is a health and human crisis threatening the food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world.

The global body warned hundreds of millions were already suffering from hunger and malnutrition before the virus hit and, unless immediate action is taken, there could be a global food emergency.

A UN policy brief about the impact of Covid-19 on Southeast Asia released in July said about 61 million people in Southeast Asia are undernourished and this number may increase following the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 820 million people were already identified as chronically food insecure prior to the onset of the pandemic.

The latest data shows that the food security of 135 million people was categorized as at crisis level or worse.

That number could nearly double before the end of the year due to the impact of Covid-19, according to the UN report about the impact of Covid-10 on food security and nutrition released in June.

The report said the number of children under the age of five who are stunted now stands at 144 million. That is more than one in five children worldwide.

The number of children classified as wasting stands at 47 million. These numbers could grow rapidly. As of late May, 368 million children were missing out on daily school meals on which they depend.

Near real-time household food security monitoring and model-based estimates suggest that deteriorating employment conditions and other factors may have pushed as many as 45 million people into acute food insecurity since February, the majority (33 million) in South and Southeast Asia, according to the UN.

Tackling inequality, upholding rights

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said tackling inequality, greening the economy and upholding human rights will be critical for Southeast Asian countries during the pandemic.

"As in other parts of the world, the health, economic and political impact of Covid-19 has been significant across Southeast Asia, hitting the most vulnerable the hardest," he said in a video accompanying the launching of the UN's latest policy briefing on the crisis on July 30.

The UN chief commended governments for acting swiftly to tackle the pandemic while the disease arrived in Southeast Asia earlier than in the rest of the globe. "Containment measures have spared Southeast Asia the degree of suffering and upheaval seen elsewhere," Guterres said.

Indonesia is the hardest hit among the region's 11 countries with 5,302 deaths and 113,134 confirmed cases, followed by the Philippines with 2,104 deaths and 106,330 infections, and Malaysia's 125 deaths and 9,001 cases, while Cambodia, Laos and Timor-Leste have no deaths.

The latest data shows that 693, 694 people have died out of more than 18 million confirmed cases worldwide.

• John Zaw is a Myanmar-based journalist and has been working for UCA News since 2005. He has covered religion, interfaith, human rights, and marginalized issues and also provides commentary about peace, ethnic conflict.
• First published in UCANews.com. Reproduced with permission.

"Two major crises require immediate and determined action by people of goodwill, leaders and all members of the human community," said Aloysius John, Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis.

First of all, international debt "often paid by the sweat and fatigue of the poorest in these countries." Second, the economic sanctions in the Middle East, particularly Syria, that has had a domino effect on neighboring nations, including Lebanon, that is hosting millions of Syrian refugees. Read more

"Unfortunately, the aftershock of the pandemic" is proving to be "even more complicated and more deadly than the impact of the virus itself, especially for the most vulnerable communities in the poorest countries," Caritas Internationalis said in a statement May 6.

It urged the international community and donor countries "to take courageous and immediate action" or else millions of vulnerable people will face worsening malnutrition or starvation. Read more

At a time of technological and scientific progress, "we ought to feel shame" for not having advanced in "humanity and solidarity" enough to feed the world's poor, he says.

Just because we have faced emergencies and desperate situations of those most in need doesn't mean we've done enough, he says.

"We are all called to go further." Read more

Every month, the agency moves more than 25,000 tons of food in its war on hunger.

In mid-April of this year, Asu Dennis Charles Lasuba, a member of the Kakwa people, decided he had to leave. There was nothing more he could do.

Fighters rallying behind former South Sudanese vice president, Riek Machars, had spread out across Kakwa territory in the southern part of the country.

In response, soldiers belonging to the government army advanced into the area and accused Lasuba and his people of cooperating with Machar's rebels.

The soldiers began slaughtering members of the ethnic group and burning down their homes.

The violence turned 37-year-old Lasuba into yet another South Sudanese refugee.

Like 6 million of his compatriots who have become internally displaced or have otherwise suffered due to the almost four-year long conflict, Lasuba is now dependent on international aid.

After arriving in the Imvepi refugee camp just a few days after he escaped the violence, he described the fear that triggered his flight.

Like 1 million other people from South Sudan, he has found refuge in Uganda. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) provides them with the rations necessary to survive: 2,100 calories per day.

But the amount of food that must be shipped to feed Lasuba and the other refugees in Uganda, as well as the 2 million internally displaced still in South Sudan, is enormous.

In 2016, the WFP bought more than 300,000 tons of sorghum, beans and oil for the South Sudan crisis alone.

When it comes to food purchases, there is but a single rule the WFP follows: Supplies must always be bought at the lowest price possible.

Because that sum is a combination of the purchase price and transport costs, sacks of grain sometimes travel huge distances across circuitous routes before they end up in the gigantic depot in eastern Uganda for deployment in the South Sudan crisis.

Is the price of corn currently low in Mexico? Is it cheap enough that the amount saved justifies sending it halfway around the globe? If it is, WFP will buy it. Continue reading

Sources

• Spiegel Online
• Image: Jamii Radio

Saying much can be done to help change this, Francis sent a message on Monday to participants in the 40th General Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations who were meeting in Rome.

He apologised for his inability to be with them.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin went to the conference on Francis's behalf and read his message for him.

He said the Holy See closely follows the work of the international community and wants to help promote ways to eliminate hunger and malnutrition rather than merely progress or develop goals in theory.

He went on to say the international community should acknowledge hunger and malnutrition are not "natural or structural phenomena.

"We are dealing with a complex mechanism that mainly burdens the most vulnerable, who are not only excluded from the processes of production, but frequently obliged to leave their lands in search of refuge and hope."

He also said intergovernmental organisations like those that work with the United Nations need to be able to intervene specifically and undertake an adequate solidarity action when "a country is incapable of offering adequate responses because its degree of development, conditions of poverty, climate changes or situations of insecurity.

"The reason hunger and malnutrition still exist is because of a "lack of a culture of solidarity," and countries are not doing enough to tackle the issue."

Francis's message warned the international community against "being bound only to the pragmatism of statistics or the desire for efficiency that lacks the idea of sharing."

He said solidarity needs to be the criterion behind the different forms of cooperation in international relations, since the goods entrusted to us by God are meant for everyone.

Source

• Vatican Radio
• Crux
• Image: Philstar.com

Hundreds of people live in the old cinema building, which has become a notorious slum, and most of them live on just a little more than $1.25 per day. It is a pittance, but according to the definition used by the United Nations, they are not considered to be suffering from extreme poverty. It is a definition that very clearly does not correspond to the lives they lead.

In 2015, the UN claimed that the number of people suffering from extreme poverty in the world had been cut by more than half since 1990. A significant contributor to this success story, the UN said, was the establishment at the beginning of the last decade of the Millennium Development Goals, which include, among other aims, the fight against poverty and hunger, the struggle for better education and greater equality, and improved healthcare and environmental protection.

The goals have "galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world's poorest," the UN claims on its Millennium Goals website. In an editorial published in September, philanthropist Melinda Gates wrote: "Given what we have achieved so far, it would be difficult to overstate what's possible."

And there have indeed been positive developments in the battle against extreme poverty, illiteracy and child mortality in recent years.

But are the advances really a result of the UN campaign? And in light of the kind of poverty facing people like Theavy, how significant has this progress really been?

Researchers from a variety of fields have been extremely critical of the UN and have argued that the progress made toward achieving the Millennium Goals has been portrayed as more significant than it actually has been. The 2015 Millennium Development Goals Report claims, for example, that "in 1990, nearly half of the population in the developing world lived on less than $1.25 a day; that proportion dropped to 14 percent in 2015." Continue reading

Sources

• Spiegel Online, article by Anna Behrend, member of the data journalism team from Spiegel Online.
• Image: Marist Messenger

His comments came on Friday at a UN conference on nutrition hosted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

The Pontiff condemned speculation in food commodities and greed, saying they undermined the global fight against poverty and hunger.

"It is also painful to see that the struggle against hunger and malnutrition is hindered by market priorities, the primacy of profit, which have reduced foodstuffs to a commodity like any other, subject to speculation, also of a financial nature", Pope Francis told delegates from over 170 countries.

The Holy Father told delegates that a fairer distribution of food "cannot remain in the limbo of theory".

Calling on rich nations to share their wealth and denounce waste, excessive consumption and unequal food distribution, the Holy Father highlighted the "paradox of plenty"; where enough food is produced globally for everyone, but not enough for all to eat.

"The hungry remain at the street corner and ask to be recognised as citizens, to receive a healthy diet. We ask for dignity, not for charity".

The UN estimates that a third of all the food that is produced is lost to waste and spoilage.

Sources

• La Stampa
• Associated Press
• Reuters
• Image: Yahoo

From October 6, dozens of Victoria University students will spend five days living off whatever meals they can make for $2.25 a day.

They have have signed up to take part in the Live Below the Line campaign.

Live below the Line organisers say is a physical and mental challenge that will change the way people see poverty and make a big difference for the world's poorest.

New Zealand participants have raised more than $1 million for various poverty-focused projects since 2011.

Live Below the Line is supported by Christian World Service (CWS).

Christian World Service is the development, justice and aid agency of a number of mainstream New Zealand Churches.

Sign up to Live Below the Line Challenge

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

"Since eating this pearl millet, the children are rarely ill," raves Mankar, a slim man with a gray beard, worn clothing and gold-rimmed glasses.

Mankar and his family are participating in a large-scale nutrition experiment.

He is one of about 30,000 small farmers growing the variety, which has unusually high levels of iron and zinc — Indian researchers bred the plant to contain large amounts of these elements in a process they call "biofortification."

The grain is very nutritional," says the Indian farmer, as his granddaughter Kavya jumps up and down in his lap. It's also delicious, he adds. "Even the cattle like the pearl millet."

Mankar's field on the outskirts of the village of Vadgaon Kashimbe is barely 100 meters (328 feet) wide and 40 meters long.

The grain will be ripe in a month, and unless there is a hailstorm — may Ganesha, the elephant god, prevent that from happening — he will harvest about 350 kilograms of pearl millet, says the farmer. It's enough for half a year.

The goal of the project, initiated by the food aid organisation Harvest Plus, is to prevent farmers like Mankar and their families from going hungry in the future.

In fact, the Dhanshakti pearl millet is part of a new "Green Revolution" with which biologists and nutrition experts hope to liberate the world from hunger and malnutrition. Continue reading.

Source: Spiegel Online

Image: AFP

The People's Supreme Court upheld the jail term of 30 months for lawyer and dissident Joseph Le Quoc Quan for charges of tax evasion.

His firm was also fined 1.29 billion dong (approximately US $61,000), local sources said.

Church sources stated that only Quan's mother and wife were allowed to be at the four-hour appeal trial, while hundreds of Quan supporters stood outside in the cold and rain.

Supporters had attended a special Mass at Redemptorist-run Thai Ha Church and then marched to the court.

Security officials prevented people from entering the court by erecting barriers on streets leading to it. Police also took photos and video of supporters.

Quan started his hunger strike on February 2 to demand jail authorities give him access to religious books and to a priest for Confession and Communion.

His hunger strike is also a way to protest against the legal process.

The blogger and human rights lawyer is well-known for taking part in pro-democracy activities and giving legal support to Catholics petitioning the government to return church properties.

Quan's firm also provided legal aid to factory workers and poor people.

The United States said it was "deeply concerned" by the decision to uphold the conviction, which it called inconsistent with Vietnam's international commitments to freedom of expression.

"The use of tax laws by Vietnamese authorities to imprison government critics for peacefully expressing their political views is disturbing," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Quan's arrest in 2012 came nine days after the BBC published his article criticising the Vietnamese constitution.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• South China Morning Post
• Image: South China Morning Post

For Funaki Vehekite, 53, the sweet potato is all the sweeter because it allows him to support his family and keep his five children in school.

At his farm in Tongatapu, Tonga's largest island, he also produces food crops such as kape, taro, yam, cassava and squash.

Funaki is the secretary of a farming collective called the St Anthony of Padua group, which is part of Caritas Tonga's sustainable livelihoods programme.

With funding from Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, the programme aims to boost the income of over 400 families in Tongatapu and Vava'u by providing small loans which farmers can use to set up micro-enterprises.

Community members are trained in business management, produce development and marketing so that the income they gain will allow them to become financially independent.

"Caritas Tonga's Sustainable Livelihoods programme is our way of helping poverty stricken families in Tonga," says Sr Senolita Vakata, director of Caritas Tonga.

"We support poor farmers who cannot afford any collateral for their loans and otherwise would have no other way of acquiring financial support either from a bank or other private institution." Continue reading.

Today, 10 December 2013, the Caritas International federation launches its One human family, food for all campaign, supported by Pope Francis, aiming to end food hunger by 2025

Source: Caritas International

Image: Hunger Campaign

The Pope's message will be available from 9am New Zealand time. In the video Pope Francis invites all people - organisations and individuals - to consider the impact of their daily actions on those who suffer from hunger.

Two hours later, the youngest Caritas member - Caritas Samoa - will lead the 164-member confederation at midday local time in a wave of prayer sweeping the globe at midday in each time zone.

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand will join with Tonga an hour later - praying the Campaign Prayer at midday their time. All Catholics and people of goodwill are invited to ‘catch the wave' - at midday, or any other time on the day.

Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, president of Vatican-based federation of charities Caritas Internationalis, believes that world hunger can be eliminated by 2025. In a video message he said, "There is enough food to feed the planet. We believe that with your help and with the help of governments and the UN, we can end hunger by 2025."

Source

• Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
• The Huffington Post

The global wave of prayer will begin at noon in Tonga, progressing around the world until reaching American Samoa 24 hours and 164 countries later.

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, president of Vatican-based federation of charities Caritas Internationalis, believes that world hunger can be eliminated by 2025.

In a video message he said, "There is enough food to feed the planet. We believe that with your help and with the help of governments and the UN, we can end hunger by 2025."

The wave of prayer has been organized by the 164 member organizations of Caritas Internationalis, with Pope Francis' blessing. It will take place on Human Rights Day,Dec. 10, to support the anti-hunger campaign, "One Human Family, Food For All."

Many people from around the world have signed a pledge on the Catholic Charities USA website, that reads:

"I pledge to join millions of others across the globe in a worldwide prayer wave to combat hunger.

"As part of One Human Family, Food for All, I will take a moment on Tuesday, December 10 at 12:00 p.m. in my time zone to pray for those who go without food or struggle to provide nourishment for themselves and their families.

"I promise to use the most powerful weapon there is - prayer - to work to change hearts and systems, ensuring that all who are hungry may find nourishment, strength, and peace".

Source: Huffington Post

He called for greater efforts to build a worldwide "culture of encounter and solidarity".

The Pope's words came in his annual message for World Food Day, addressed to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation in Rome.

He called it "paradoxical" that globalisation is increasing the world's awareness of situations of need, yet there appears to be "a growing tendency towards individualism and inwardness, which leads to a certain attitude of indifference — at a personal, institutional and state level — towards those who die of hunger and suffer as a result of malnutrition".

"Something must change in us, in ourselves, in our mentality, in our societies," he said.

Pope Francis called the waste of food — which, according to the FAO, accounts for approximately a third of worldwide food production — "one of the fruits of the 'throwaway culture' that often sacrifices men and women to the idols of profit and consumption; a sad sign of the 'globalisation of indifference', which is slowly 'habituating' us to the suffering of others, as if it were something normal."

He said the tragic condition in which millions of hungry and malnourished people, including many children, live today is "one of the most serious challenges for humanity".

"It is a scandal," he said, "that there is still hunger and malnutrition in the world! Not only must we respond to immediate emergencies, but face together, at all levels, a problem that challenges our personal and social awareness, to bring about a just and lasting solution."

Pope Francis said education in solidarity and a lifestyle that rejects the "throwaway culture", placing each person and his or her dignity in the centre, must begin in the family.

Sources:

Vatican Insider

Catholic News Service

Vatican Information Service

Image: Wanted in Rome

The poor ... are like the shadows in a painting: they provide the necessary contrast.

With a little less lyricism, here is Englishman Arthur Young, in 1771:

Everyone but an idiot knows that the lower classes must be kept poor or they will never be industrious.

Philosopher and economist Bernard de Mandeville explained in 1732 that if countries can't have slaves, the rich people who live there at least require a vast and permanent underclass to prop up the economy and their personal good times:

... it is manifest, that in a free Nation where Slaves are not allow'd of, the surest Wealth consists in a Multitude of laborious Poor; for besides that they are the never-failing Nursery of Fleets and Armies, without them there could be no Enjoyment, and no Product of any Country could be valuable.

In the span of 200 years, these commonly held sentiments have of course come to be seen as deeply wrong-headed, in total opposition with today's notion that poverty is something we'd rather eradicate than exploit. The history of how we so dramatically changed our minds on the topic (and the related responsibilities of government) is chronicled in a fascinating new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by Georgetown University economist Martin Ravallion. Continue reading

Sources

• The Atlantic
• Image: UMCOR

"In a world that has made great strides in improving food production and distribution, far too many of God's children still go to bed hungry or suffer from a lack of nutrition, a tragedy that has lifelong consequences for health and educational achievement," they said.

The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States will hold their 2013 summit in the UK on June 17 and 18.

Continue reading