Story perspectives

Pope Urges Food as Human Right, Halting War Aid

6/23/2026

Summary

**Pope Urges FoodPeace**

Pope Leo XIV urged leaders at the World Food Programme headquarters to stop feeding wars, declare food a human right, and warned hunger fuels instability.
The World Food Programme delivered 15.6 billion rations in 2025, backed by $6.5 billion in private donations, while the United States contributed $800 million, its largest donation.
Cindy McCain received the pope as he urged leaders to re-evaluate priorities, strengthen cooperation, and invest in food systems to prevent conflict.

Summary

**Pope Warns**

Funding for the World Food Programme has fallen about 59% since 2022 while needs have surged.
The agency is seeking $13 billion in donations for 2026 to close the funding gap.
Pope Leo warned, echoing Pope Francis’s decade-old warnings, that bureaucratic obstacles and customs barriers delay food assistance, urging governments to cut red tape while weaponry flows unimpeded.

Summary

**Pope Highlights Aid**

World Food Programme (WFP) reported delivering 15.8 billion food rations worldwide by June 2026.
Former WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain announced she will step down after a mild stroke in October 2025 to focus on health.
Pope Francis highlighted the school-meal programme feeding 466 million pupils, laid a wreath at the memorial wall honoring 171 staff members, and video-called six front-line workers in Venezuela, Senegal, South Sudan and Lebanon to hear their challenges.

History

Historical Context

Founded in 1961 after the FAO conference, the World Food Programme began emergency aid in Sudan in 1963 and became a permanent agency in 1965. It earned the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for preventing food as a weapon of war, yet funding fell from $14.1 billion in 2022 to $8.3 billion in 2023, threatening its capacity as it now assists over 152 million people.

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**Pope Urges FoodPeace**

Pope Leo XIV urged leaders at the World Food Programme headquarters to stop feeding wars, declare food a human right, and warned hunger fuels instability.
The World Food Programme delivered 15.6 billion rations in 2025, backed by $6.5 billion in private donations, while the United States contributed $800 million, its largest donation.
Cindy McCain received the pope as he urged leaders to re-evaluate priorities, strengthen cooperation, and invest in food systems to prevent conflict.

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