Pope equates Ukraine with starving African nations

Pope Leo XIV. Photo: Edgar Beltrán, Stolp (Wikimedia Commons)

On October 16, 2025, Pope Leo XIV, speaking in Rome, placed Ukraine alongside the starving nations of Africa as he condemned world leaders for their failure to address the global food crisis. The European Conservative reported on his remarks.

Speaking at an event marking the 80th anniversary of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Pope said that millions of people around the world suffer from hunger due to a “soulless economy” and the indifference of wealthy nations. He noted that “enormous amounts of food go wasted in the world “while multitudes of people scramble to find something in the garbage to put in their mouths.”

The pontiff described the situation as “collective failure, an ethical aberration, a historical sin.”

Pope Leo XIV specifically mentioned Ukraine, along with Gaza, Haiti, Afghanistan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Yemen, and South Sudan, as examples of countries “where poverty has become the daily bread.”

The Pope decried the inequality that grants abundance to a few and leaves the many with nothing. urging the world to “wake up from its fatal lethargy” and reexamine the priorities of modern civilization.

According to the World Food Programme’s report published on October 15, around 319 million people worldwide are suffering from acute food insecurity, including 44 million on the brink of starvation.

As the UOJ previously reported, Pope Leo earlier made headlines for blessing a block of ice at a climate change conference.

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