2006年VOA标准英语-Pope Appeals for Shift of Resources to Combat W（在线收听）

By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
12 November 2006

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his Angelus prayer from his window, November 12, 2006

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Pope Benedict XVI lamented that hundreds of millions of people in the world do not have enough to eat. He said it is a scandal, which must be combated by changes in style of life, consumption and fairer distribution of resources.

Speaking from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square, Benedict noted that the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization recently reported that more than 800 million people are undernourished, and that many people, especially children, die from hunger.

Certainly, the pope said, one needs to eliminate the structural causes tied to the system of governing the world's economy, which earmarks most of the planet's resources to a minority of the population.

Pope Benedict described the situation as an injustice, and said that, to make an impact on a large scale, it is necessary to convert the model of global development. This is necessary, the pope added, not only to confront the scandal of hunger, but also the environmental and energy emergencies.

Every person and every family, the pope said, can and must do something to alleviate hunger in the world. They must adopt a style of life and consumption compatible with safeguarding creation and with the criteria of justice toward those who cultivate the land in every country.

Ten years after world leaders pledged to cut by half the number of hungry people in the world, almost no progress has been made. FAO says, in developing nations overall, hunger continues to rise.