17/10/25

8. Today, we can no longer delude ourselves by thinking that the consequences of our failures impact only those who are hidden out of sight. The hungry faces of so many who still suffer challenge us and invite us to reexamine our lifestyles, our priorities and our overall way of living in today’s world. For this very reason, I want to bring to the attention of this international forum the multitudes who lack access to drinking water, food, essential medical care, decent housing, basic education, or dignified work, so that we can share in the pain of those who are nourished by despair, tears, and misery alone. How can we fail to remember all of those who are condemned to death and hardship in Ukraine, Gaza, Haiti, Afghanistan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Yemen, and South Sudan, to name just a few places on the planet where poverty has become the daily bread of so many of our brothers and sisters? The international community cannot look the other way. We must make their suffering our own. We cannot aspire to a more just social life if we are not willing to rid ourselves of the apathy that justifies hunger as if it were background music we have grown accustomed to, an unsolvable problem, or simply someone else’s responsibility. We cannot demand action from others if we ourselves fail to honor our own commitments. By our omission, we become complicit in the promotion of injustice. We cannot hope for a better world, a bright and peaceful future, if we are not willing to share what we ourselves have received. Only then can we affirm — with truth and courage — that no one has been left behind.