Pope: Global hunger pushes out opulence

ROME, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Hunger is so rampant in the world that countries' displays of opulence are unacceptable, Pope Benedict XVI told a food security summit in Rome Tuesday.

Pope Benedict criticized what he called "egotism and speculation" on food and nutritional models aimed "only at consumption" during the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization summit, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The pontiff called on nations to review their food security policies, noting that the number of people suffering from hunger has "seen a dramatic growth" despite world's capability "of feeding all its inhabitants."

"The (Catholic) Church does not intend to interfere in policy decisions," he said. "It joins the effort to eliminate hunger and respects decisions of others when they are made responsibly, illuminated by authentic human values."

To defeat hunger, the pope said called on a partnership between countries that have "different levels of development," ANSA said.

"If the aim is to eliminate hunger, international action must be focused not only on a policy for balanced, stable and sustainable economic growth, but also at adopting new parameters -- ethical, legal and economic -- which can inspire cooperation to build equal relations between countries with different levels of development," the pope explained.

"Even though poorer countries are more integrated in the world economy than they were before, international market trends have made them more vulnerable and forced them to seek aid from intergovernmental institutions, which without a doubt offer indispensable and important support," Pope Benedict said.